


Twin Fire Signs

by fratboytomlin



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, M/M, Secret Relationship, Step Sibling Incest, Underage Drinking, Underage Sex
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-03-03
Updated: 2014-03-15
Packaged: 2018-01-14 08:18:17
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 28,381
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1259377
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fratboytomlin/pseuds/fratboytomlin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis' mum drops the bomb that she's met someone new, and even though Louis feels like his world is ending at first, his new step brother may be able to change that.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. one

**Author's Note:**

> this is loosely based off of the book, 'a midsummer's nightmare' by kody keplinger which is one of my absolute favorites.

Louis jumped up from his seat as the bell rung, ending his last class. He silently thanked the heavens above that this day was over, because tomorrow was the last Friday before winter break. The anticipation and excitement of finally being able to leave this hell hole for two weeks took over his body as he hurriedly shoved his books in his backpack. A smile of pure eagerness overtook his face as he pushed through the students to exit the classroom.

Winter break usually wasn't a great occurrence for Louis, often spending it alone or with his mother in some random, unknown country that she found online, but this time he was spending it with his best friends from the football team. They usually planned the trip without him, but ever since Louis had surprisingly taken over head captain, his teammates were practically wiping the footprints off the ground that he walked on. So once Louis had heard about their ski trip in the mountains, they were begging him to come along.

This, to Louis, meant two weeks of non-stop partying, which was right down his alley.

Once he was out of the stuffy Civics classroom, he entered the badly-lit hallway that was bustling with Christmas cheer. Louis scanned the crowd of people for one of his friends, or someone else tolerable to talk to because come on, he was _Louis Tomlinson,_ captain of the football team.

Luckily, he spotted one of his best friends, Liam Payne, leaning against someone's locker. Liam had been one of the few people that had been nice to him prior to his so called 'rise to fame', and by nice, Louis meant that he hadn't shoved his head in the toilet or punched the shit out of him in the bathrooms in between classes. Louis was just glad that that dark period of his high school career was over.

Anyway, Liam was standing at some random locker that Louis had never seen him at previously. Squinting, Louis tried to make out who's locker it was and why Liam was talking to them. He then realized it must belong to the girl with flowing brown hair and tanned skin that he was talking to, flipping her locks nervously and smiling back at Liam.

Louis ran his tongue across his teeth, scanning the hallway to see if anyone else appealing was in plain sight, but no one else sparked his interest.

So he made his way over to Liam anyway, or at least almost did, accidentally mowing over some kid in the process. It wasn't that shocking since people were pushing and crashing into each other, but Louis didn't expect to be the one on the ground in the middle of the hustle.

A tall, lanky boy was across from him, glasses slipping down his paling face as he scrambled to retrieve his books.

Normally, Louis would let out an evil laugh and kick the kid's binder across the hallway, but something in his brain was telling him no, so Louis reached the last of the boys belongings and handed it to him, asking, "Is this yours?"

The other boy nodded, carefully taking the notebook from Louis and stuffing it under his shoulder.

Louis was the first to get steady on his feet again, and he held his hand out to the other boy because for some reason, he felt for him. Louis knew what it was like to be pushed around and to be treated like he was invisible and for some reason, he didn't want this boy to feel the same way.

He took Louis' hand with thankfulness, letting him pull him back onto his feet.

"Thanks, you didn't have to do that." The other boy said, and Louis found his voice much more deeper than he had expected for someone so scrawny.

"No problem, didn't want you to get trampled back there." Louis said with a smile, nodding his head at the boy with the unruly curls and hurried his way over to Liam.

Liam was completely oblivious to Louis' presence, and Louis was pretty sure Liam had hearts for eyes in that very moment. The girl he was talking to was pretty involved too, standing with her books crossed over her chest and a flirtatious grin on her face.

Louis rudely cleared his throat to make himself known, grabbing the attention of both of them.

"Can I talk to Liam, alone, please?" Louis asked, his voice a lot ruder than he intended.

The girl's eyes widened, muttering a soft goodbye to Liam and she pushed past Louis, intentionally letting her elbow jab in his side as she walked passed. Louis didn't blame her.

"What the hell Louis? Didn't your mother ever teach you that it was rude to interrupt people while the were talking? Especially if they like each other and this is the first chance they've gotten?" Liam said, his eyebrows furrowing together and his usually friendly face turning into a look of anger. Louis couldn't help but think that Liam still looked adorable when he was angry.

"Liam, please. You have to be nuts to think I ruined your chances with her. Everybody here loves us, and do you really think that she'd let you slip away that fast?" Louis asked, crossing his arms and piquing his eyebrow.

Relaxing, Liam shrugged, "I suppose you're right. I just really like her."

"Then go get her number. Ask her to come with on the ski trip." Louis insists, averting his gaze to the general direction where she had gone. The girl was with Eleanor, a girl that his friend Josh was dating, and they were whispering and pointing over by Louis and Liam, just like they were doing to them.

"Do you really think the guys would want other girls tagging along?"

Louis sighed, "If Z is bringing Ariana and Josh is bringing Eleanor, I'm sure you can bring whoever you were just talking to."

"Her name is Sophia, and I don't know, I'll try, okay?" Liam says, huffing out a breath, "I've got to go now, I'll see you later, though."

"Alright, see you." Louis said shortly, watching Liam walk away and out the doors of the senior hallway.

The corridor was now empty for the most part, besides the Eleanor and the other girl that Louis learned to be Sophia, and Louis was just feeling good about himself today, so he ventured across the hallway to the two of them.

When he approached them, Sophia said, "Are you here to interrupt us, too?"

Louis liked her attitude.

"No, I actually came over here to talk to you this time. It's about Liam." Louis said, hushing his voice so the remaining people in the hallway wouldn't hear.

"Oh, what about him?" Sophia asked, attempting to secretly bite her lip to refrain from smiling. It didn't work.

"He likes you and wants to ask you out but he's really shy about it," Louis lied, "So I wanted to make this easier on him, do you like him or not?" Louis asked, and he wondered when the fuck he became Liam's matchmaker.

"Of course I like him," Sophia replied matter-of-factly, "I was hoping that was obvious."

Louis nodded, "It is, but I just wanted to make sure. If he asks you out or to like, I don't know, go on a ski trip with him, you'll say yes, right?"

"Yes," Sophia said, her head bobbing up and down, "Thanks for the heads up, Louis."

"Anytime," Louis grinned, and he had just realized that Eleanor was still there, "Hi Eleanor."

"Hi Louis, it's always nice to see you." Eleanor blushed, batting her eyelashes frantically. Oh no.

"Right. Okay well I'll see you later then?" Louis said, but it came out more like a question.

"Yeah, alright, see you." Sophia said.

Eleanor said something too, but Louis didn't really stick around for her response.

As Louis was leaving the two girls, his back pocket vibrated with a text message. Louis pulled his phone out, sliding his thumb across the lock button and reading the new message he had.

_3:23 pm - Zaynie Boy_

_meet me in the sophomore bathroom so we can talk - z_

Louis shoved his phone back into his pocket, wondering why the hell Zayn would ever be in the sophomore bathroom, but pushed that thought from his brain.

Striding down the now-empty hallway, Louis felt his stomach fill with warm feelings of nostalgia. He hadn't been down this hallway in almost two years, and he was kind of glad because most of his worst memories came from within these brick walls. The sentiment of being young was setting in though, and Louis was missing it already.

Deciding that Zayn could wait a couple extra minutes, Louis made the rash decision to find his old locker. He counted the numbers down until he found locker 217, the paint still chipping off and the rust forming alongside the edges of it.

In the spur of the moment, Louis used his not-so genius hacking skills (they never changed the combinations on the locks) to break into what was once his.

A parade of papers came flowing out, and Louis concluded that the owner wasn't a very clean person. Out of curiously, Louis checked the names on the papers, and they belonged to a 'Harry Styles', who Louis now knew was very unclean, but had nice handwriting.

Louis shoved the papers back into his old locker and found himself shutting the door of the boy's sophomore bathroom behind him.

"What the hell took you so long?" Zayn whisper-yelled, "People were starting to think I was a freak for chilling out in the boys bathroom! Especially one for younger boys if you know what I mean."

"Oh Zayn please," Louis said, waving him off, "Why the fuck are we in here, anyway?"

Zayn pulled a cartridge of cigarettes from his front pocket, along with a lighter, "Good place to smoke. Sophomores never get into trouble so the teachers never check here."

"Right, but seriously, I think you've gotten hit in the head with a football too many times." Louis responds back, his tone sassy as he fixes his hair in the mirror and hopes that it hadn't looked that bad all day.

"So self obsessed," Zayn tisked, shaking his head and taking another drag from his cigarette, "Anyway, I'm sure you've talked to Liam today and he told you the news. It's just going to be me, you, him, and some of the other guys on the team. Plus the girls, of course." Zayn finished, waggling his eyebrows at Louis.

"That makes me not want to go, you chauvinist pig." Louis jokes.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, sometimes I forget you're not into girls." Zayn says, putting out the cigarette on the sink, "Maybe we'll find a guy there for you?"

"Thanks, but no thanks. You're the only one who knows and if the other guys find out, I'll be the butt end of the jokes again." Louis says, holding out his hand to Zayn for a cigarette.

Before Zayn could even get the carton back out, the door swung open and someone walked in.

Louis recognized him to be the boy he had knocked into in the hallway only 20 minutes prior.

The boy averted his eyes from Zayn and Louis, quickly rushing into one of the stalls. Louis paled, hoping that the boy hadn't heard what he and Zayn were just talking about.

Zayn had known that Louis was gay since they about 12 years old. That's when Louis had just figured it out himself, and he was scared. Zayn was his only friend at the time, so of course, he was the only person he trusted with that type of thing. Even though Zayn was at the completely opposite spectrum of popularity than Louis was, Zayn was still the only one who stuck around for all those years.

Louis loved Zayn, well, as a friend, that is.

"Well I've got to go now, give me a call later, though." Louis said, tightening his backpack around his shoulders and giving Zayn a wave.

"Alright, I'll call you at like 7 because you know how crazy mom gets when I don't show up for dinner." Zayn says, rolling his eyes, "But please don't back down on the trip. We're soul brothers, remember that." Zayn said, snapping his fingers at Louis.

Louis gave his goodbyes again and left the bathroom, and then the school altogether.

He trotted out to the parking lot, trying to escape the gust of the brisk winds on the way to his car. He was glad that he parked close to the building today because the snow was coming down in heavy sheets. When he got into the car, Louis looked in the mirror as he usually did whenever there was one around, and snow flurries were melting on his freshly styled hair. Louis let out a long sigh, tossing his backpack into the backseat and popped his favorite album at the moment into the stereo.

The entire ride home, Louis was immaturely tapping his finger on the steering wheel and belting out lyrics at the top of his lungs.

Sometimes he wondered how he even got his license.

Thirty minutes later, Louis was pulling into his driveway that was barely visible due to the snow that was coming down at a horrifying measure. Louis sat in the car for a minute after taking the key out of the ignition, his face twisted in disgust at the weltering flowers and the drab trees that were robbed of their leaves.

Louis lifted his hefty backpack from the backseat of his car, swinging it onto his shoulder and trudging through the snow up to the stairs of his home.

The door was unlocked and oddly enough, someone was still inside the house. Louis expected this year to be no different than the ones previous, his mother and half brother, Drew, being out of the house by Thursday afternoon.

But today was different, because he could hear his mother singing in the kitchen and the sound of the family room television was blasting some awful reality show that Drew insisted on watching every night whilst waiting for dinner (which Louis thought was stupid, because who would want to watch people fight for entertainment?).

For the first time in forever, Louis wanted to spend time with his stupid little brother, because honestly, he was going to miss him for the 2 weeks that he was gone.

"Hey kiddo," Louis said, jumping over the top of the floral couch and Louis' mother would absolutely kill him if she knew what he just did, "What's on the TV today?"

" _'The Only Way Is Essex'_ , it's really stupid, but it's quite funny," Drew said, furrowing his brow, "Why would you want to know, anyway? You never want to do anything with me."

Louis shrugged, "Just thought I'd spend some time with you. You're going to be gone for 2 weeks, and I'm not going to be able to spend time with my kid brother, even if you do watch lame reality shows made for house moms."

"Hey," Drew said, punching Louis lightly on the bicep, "I thought you were being nice to me for a second."

"I'm being nice to you just by being here and watching this crap with you."

"Touche." Drew responded, settling into the couch a little more.

After about 20 minutes of useless arguing and drama on the television, their mother called them to the dining room for dinner. It was a strange occurrence that their mother actually prepared the dinner herself (most of the time Jay made one of the housekeepers cook their meals) but she claimed that she wanted tonight to be a special family night.

Louis was worried.

The last time he had a special family night with his mother, it was because she was pregnant with Drew.

Drew is 13, Louis is 18. Do the math.

It was a long time.

When Louis was halfway through with his pork chops (which weren't even cooked that much and Louis was certain he'd wake up with salmonella), he broke the silence and asked, "What's the special occasion?"

Jay put down the glass of water she was drinking and smiled a smile that could probably blind the boys if the room wasn't so dimly lit, "I've met someone." She said.

Nervously, Louis wiped his hand on the napkin that was resting on his lap, "I don't see how meeting someone is important, you meet people everyday."

"Louis," Jay replied sternly, "I've _met_ someone."

"Oh."

"He's a nice guy, trust me. He also has two boys, I'm sure you all will get along quite well." Jay assured, taking another sip of her water.

Drew seemed emotionless to the whole thing, his fork halfway to his mouth and the piece of pork chop that was on there had now fallen onto the tablecloth.

Louis stared at his mother blankly, "How long have you been seeing this guy? And practically _lying_ to us?"

"Louis William Tomlinson!" Jay yelled, raising her voice and making Drew jump and drop his fork, "You will _not_ speak to me like that about this subject! Do you understand?"

"Fine, but next time, give us a heads up." Louis said, throwing his napkin down onto his dinner plate and running up the stairs to his bedroom.

Slamming the door behind him, Louis fell on top of his comforter and just laid there for a couple minutes, letting himself calm down so he wouldn't do anything drastic or anything that he'd regret later.

His head was spinning and Louis felt like his entire body was pounding. How could his mother do this to him _again?_ Jay was always meeting men and letting the boys get attached, only to discard them later like last seasons pantsuit.

But never had she made it a formal thing, it was usually just a passing by statement, something along the lines of, 'Louis, Drew, meet my new boyfriend Jack/Jeff/Clark'. This worried Louis because it could possibly be something more serious than all of her old relationships, and maybe his mother could be getting married.

Again.

After Drew's father had left, Jay swore off men for a whole 3 months. She then dated someone new every couple months for the next 13 years, except for now.

Or maybe Louis was just overreacting.

Or maybe Louis was right.

Shaking his head, Louis took his phone out from his pocket and checked the time. It wasn't that late yet, only about 5:45, and he was hoping that Zayn would answer his phone.

Luckily he did after the first couple rings, answering with a "Ay Lou, wassup?"

"My mum met someone new." Louis said, not even greeting Zayn and just getting straight to the point.

Zayn laughed, "Your mum always meets someone. So?"

"So, it's serious this time. She's like, all fancy-like and she made dinner."

"Whoa, is she marrying the bloke or something?"

Louis went pale.

"I hope not, but she's acting really protective about the whole relationship. It's so weird." Louis complaining, turning onto his back.

"Do you know anything about this guy?" Zayn asked, his mouth mushing against the receiver of the phone.

"He's got two kids, both guys."

"That's it? You think she'd give you more info."

"I didn't really give her the chance," Louis said, biting his lip, "I got mad and stormed out."

"What about Drew? What did he do?"

"Drew acted weird. He like, was frozen sitting there and then when mum yelled at me he dropped his fork. I told you, I stormed out. I really don't know about Drew."

"You should probably talk to him."

"You think?"

"Yeah, instead of talking to me, talk this one out with him. He _is_ your little brother, you know."

"I'll do that, thanks Zayn. I mean it." Louis said, hanging up the phone and leaving it on his bed.

He pushed himself up from his bed, padding on the carpet to his bedroom door. To his surprise, Drew's arm was raised mid knock, his face stunned when Louis opened the door on the other side.

Drew walked in without an invitation, sitting on the edge of Louis' bed.

"Louis I think you're psychic," Drew smiled, easing the tension, "Mum wanted me to come tell you some things without you blowing up in her face again."

Louis' mum didn't want Louis to yell at her so she sent his kid brother to do the deed. Good parenting.

"Okay."

"First of all, his name is Des," Drew stated, clearing his throat, "He's got two kids, Ashton, who's your age, and Harry, who's 16."

"Alright."

Drew laughed nervously, jumping off of the bed, "And mum wants us to go on vacation with him over winter break okay bye."

"What." Louis responded, grabbing Drew by the arm before he could make it out the door, "Please repeat that last part, slower and louder, if you will."

"She said this verbatim, 'you and your brother are going on vacation with me, Des, and his boys, no exceptions'. Sorry I don't make the rules."

"But I already had plans!" Louis shouts, bringing his hand to his forehead, "I'm going to go talk to mum about this. Don't fuck around with my stuff if you're staying in my bedroom." Louis says, slamming the bedroom door behind him and charging down the stairs.

Jay was cleaning up in the kitchen, carrying dishes in both of her arms to the dishwasher.

"Mum we need to talk."

"No exceptions, Louis." Jay sighs, balancing herself on one leg to open up the dishwasher.

"But mum! I had plans with the guys and this will be my last chance ever to have an actual winter break experience."

"Poor you. No. You are coming with us and that's it." Jay ends, shoving the plates into the machine and closing the door, walking into the family room.

Louis knows better than to put up a fight, so he starts walking up the stairs an back to his room when Jay calls out, "Pack your stuff, Lou! We leave at 8!"

Louis ignores her.


	2. two

If Louis had to choose one thing that he hated more than waking up early, it would be packing, and sadly enough, he was doing both on that Friday morning.

Louis had sent a text to Zayn (if it wasn't for school, Zayn wouldn't be up at this ungodly hour) and informed him on the situation and how he couldn't make it to the ski trip. Zayn understood, but some of the other guys on the team were pissed at Louis for not being able to come.

They didn't understand that if he wasn't in this shitty situation, he would be there in a heartbeat.

But instead, Louis was draped over his bed and playing yet _another_ round of Happy Jump while procrastinating getting his things together into his suitcase.

Needless to say, Louis was rebelling.

20 minutes before it was go time, Drew burst into Louis' room dressed in an unreasonable amount of clothing, including two puffer jackets, snow boots, and a baseball cap, with his backpack in his hand.

"Louis? You should probably get packing. Mum has one foot out the door." Drew says, prodding a finger at Louis' side.

"Ugh," Louis groaned, flipping himself upward onto the floor, "By the looks of your outfit, we're going to Antarctica, am I correct?"

Drew squinted his eyes at Louis, "No, Des owns this like chain of cabins in some place a couple hours from here. Mum said it was freezing up there and to pack lots of warm clothes."

"I doubt she said to wear them all at once." Louis replied sarcastically, emptying out his entire underwear drawer into his suitcase.

"I don't need this kind of abuse. I'm going to go try and sneak my pet snake into my suitcase and see if mum notices. Later." Drew said rushing out the door and Louis just hummed in response, realizing what he had said about two seconds later.

"Drew if you bring that damn snake to the cabin, I will shove it up your asshole!" Louis shouted, grabbing an armful of shirts from his bottom drawer.

"You're no fun!" Drew shouted back, his voice low from the distance of their rooms.

In a record time of 7 minutes, Louis was sitting on top of his suitcase and attempting to zip it up at the same time. He was pretty sure that he heard Drew run down the hall (either that or a raging bull had broke lose through the house) and exit through the front door. This left a glimmer of hope for Louis that maybe his mum forgot about him.

She didn't.

"Louis, we've got to get-oh," Jay said, walking into Louis' room to see him struggling with his suitcase, "Here, sweetie, I'll get that for you."

"Thanks," Louis got off of his suitcase, letting his mum close it for him.

"Once you turn a certain age, you kind of become an expert at it," Jay smiled, patting Louis on the shoulder, "Ready to go?"

"Ready as I'll ever be," Louis sighed, tugging the handle of the suitcase off of the bed and to the car.

\--

Louis was wrong. If he had to choose between hating something more than packing _and_ waking up early, it would be long car rides with his mum and brother.

Yes, 2 hours counted as a long car ride for Louis.

Usually Louis opted for the front seat with his mother so he could avoid Drew's constant talking on the phone to these two brothers he was friends with, the Strombergs, and sure, they were nice, but they were like, younger than Drew. Louis didn't even like talking to his brother have the time, let alone two more kids younger than him.

But this time, Louis was angry with his mother and Jay wasn't that fond of him either, so Louis chose the backseat option, even if it did mean that a snake could possibly be inside of Drew's backpack at this very moment.

Thankfully Louis remembered to grab his headphones on the way outside of the house, and he was glad he did because Drew was playing some game on his iPad with the sound turned up to a deafening volume. He plugged the wire of the earbuds into his phone, and began playing something tolerable for the remainder of the ride.

Well, he hoped for the remainder of the ride.

Louis had drifted off to the voice of Alex Gaskarth after about 40 minutes on the road, only to be awaken to one earbud missing and a wet finger replacing it.

"Ew what the hell are you doing?" Louis yelled, swatting Drew's arm away.

"Language, Louis," Jay warned, glancing into the mirror, "We're going to be there soon, so I just wanted to have a little...mother-son conversation with you guys."

Louis groaned, shoving his earbud back into his ear, "I'm going back to sleep."

"Drew, punch your brother."

He listened.

Louis pulled his earbud out of his ear once and again and shoved his brother back, "Mum I want to sit up front."

"Boys, stop it! Louis, you're 18, set a good example for your brother." Jay said, shaking her head.

Drew mimicked Louis and he was tempted to shove him again.

"Now, as I was saying, I want you boys to be on your best behavior for the next two weeks, got it? No more shoving or wet willies or whatever you two were doing back there." Jay started, taking another look in the mirror to make sure her boys were paying attention, "And I want you boys to know that just because I've seriously met someone this time that I still love you so much. I promise that nothing is going to change between us, except that eventually we may have a bigger family. Okay?"

"Yes mum." Louis and Drew both said, forcing smiles on their faces to please there mother.

"Alright then, carry on with whatever you're doing. Des said him and his boys should be arriving a couple minutes earlier than us."

"How much longer?" Drew asked, unlocking his iPad once again.

"About a half hour, 25 minutes if there's no traffic."

Louis groaned, jamming his headphones on and blasting whatever he could to pass the time.

Eventually his half hour of solitude came to an end with his mother pulling into the snow-covered parking lot of wherever the hell they were at. The place where they were staying was in the mountains somewhere in the middle of nowhere, and was covered with snow.

Great.

"Come on boys." Jay said, motioning the Louis and Drew out of the car.

Drew threw his backpack around his shoulders, jumping out into the snow excitedly and patiently waiting at the rear of the car for his suitcase. Louis wasn't as quick, taking his time to pause his music and to shove his phone back into his pocket.

By time Louis was out of the car, Drew was already jogging across the icy terrain and up to the lobby.

"Drew! Slow down, sweetie you're going to slip!" Jay called out, "Your brother is really excited. How about you?"

Louis shrugged his shoulders, because this was the last thing he wanted to talk about with his mum right now, "I don't know."

"You're going to have to give me more than that, Lou. I know you, and this is really bothering you," Jay said, a frown growing on her face, "It's going to be okay, you're going to love Des. Plus, he has a son your age, Ashton, and he's a really sweet kid. His other one, Harry, is a little weird though. You know, I think he goes to your school if I'm not mistaken."

"Oh." Louis said, "I don't know anyone by the name of Harry though."

"You will in a couple minutes, let's go before Drew scares them away." Jay laughs, lugging the last suitcase out of the car.

"How about I take it, mum?" Louis asked politely, taking the luggage from her grasp without even letting her answer.

Louis regretted that decision about three seconds later when his arms were freezing and aching from the massive amount of belongings that were in both of the suitcases.

Thankfully his mother opened the door to the lobby for him, letting the smell of vanilla waft under his nose as he discreetly dragged the luggage across the wooden lobby floor.

The lobby was exquisite, decorated with white and browns and the oh so familiar deer mantled above a burning fireplace. Louis thought it looked really cliche, but also very inviting at the same time.

The spark wore off when he heard Drew running his mouth about god knows what, and that's when Louis saw them.

Des (well, who he assumed was Des at least) was an older man, with graying hair and a suit on. He had a crooked smile and a hearty laugh, along with a red complexion when he laughed at whatever Drew had just said to him. Louis' face twisted up at the man, because he was the type that his mother usually avoided.

With him was a taller boy with dirty blonde curls and the same crooked smile. Louis assumed this to be Ashton, because he had never seen him anywhere before today. His smile was goofy but cute at the same time, and a dimple formed in the corners of his cheeks when he smiled.

And then Louis looked next to Ashton and-oh my god.

There he was.

The boy next to Ashton was who Louis guessed was Harry, just happened to be the same kid that he had mowed over in the hallway not even 24 hours ago, and the same kid that came into the bathroom when he was with Zayn.

Wasn't he?

Not sure if he was just seeing things or if this was a sick twist of fate, Louis followed his mother over to Des and company to get a closer look.

"Well, it looks like you've already met Drew," Jay laughed, pulling the 13 year old blabber mouth closer to her, "This is Louis, my eldest son."

Louis felt like he was living underwater, because he couldn't focus on anything that was going on around him. Obviously, Harry had noticed him too, because they were staring each other down with wide eyes and blank faces.

"Do you two know each other? You both go to the same school." Des says, but Louis barely even heard him.

"Yes." Harry replied, breaking the stare and looking at his father.

"Somewhat, yeah." Louis said uncomfortably, putting the luggage on the ground to wipe his sweating hands on his shirt.

"Great! I guess the four of your boys can share a cabin together since you all seem to get along well enough." Des says, and Louis has to refrain from turning around and walking out.

He did _not_ want to share a room with his dumb 13 year old brother and 2 strangers, 1 of which he had managed to knock over.

"That sounds great!" Jay said, and Louis swore that she hearts in her eyes at that very moment.

"We'll take my car, and I'll show you where we'll all be staying!" Des exclaimed, and Louis thought he was way too happy and excited about everything.

As they walked out, Louis tried to stay close to Drew, but it was hard because he was already cramming himself so far up Ashton's ass it wasn't even funny. While Drew rambled about some game called _Amnesia_ with Ashton, Louis was left with 2 options, he could either walk by himself or try to start up a conversation with Harry.

He chose the latter.

"Hey," Louis said lamely, plastering a welcoming smile on his face.

Harry didn't respond with words, just with a weak close lipped grin.

Well.

"It looks like Ashton and Drew are getting on pretty well, eh?" Louis points out, watching the vein in his brother's head pop out like it usually did when he was passionate about something.

"Yeah, Ashton's a really easy person to get along with." Harry stated, crossing his arms over his chest.

"What about you? Are you an easy person to get along with?"

"I'm not sure. I don't think so."

"Why not?"

"I don't have a lot of friends." Harry admitted, biting his chapped bottom lip.

"You can have me." Louis said without even thinking. At first, hit chest filled with that feeling you get when you say something you really don't mean, or you get caught lying, or you just told your crush you like them. "I mean, because it seems like Drew and Ashton are already hitting it off so it would only be fair."

"Okay." Harry responded, smiling genuinely for the first time.

"So, Harry, tell me a bit about you." Louis said, noticing that they were now at the car.

Harry shrugged, "What would you like to know?"

"Anything," Louis said, piling into the car first and into the very back, "Favorite movie to watch when you're sad? The book that makes you want to put yourself in a blender? How fast you grow facial hair? I don't fucking know, tell me anything."

"Um," Harry started, partially having his voice drowned out by Jay's infamous 'Language, Louis!', and taking the seat next to Louis, "When I'm not doing schoolwork, I'm usually reading, or playing the piano. I'm actually a really boring person."

"I don't think that's boring," Louis started, "I wish I got more into school and reading honestly, and I've always wanted to learn how to play an instrument."

"Oh there's a piano in our cabin, if you want to like, learn." Harry said, popping his knuckles. Louis decided that it must be a nervous habit.

"That would be nice, actually."

"Okay, cool." Harry said with a smile, then turning his head to the window on his left.

Louis looked out also, watching the white flurries of snow land on the embankment of snow that was already there.

Out the window, there stood two of the largest buildings that Louis had ever seen. They rest on the borderline of what otherwise would be a lake and were made of log wood. Snow was settling on the rooftop of the two houses, glowing white in the afternoon sun.

"We're here!" Des exclaimed, earning a 'yay!' from Jay and silence from the four kids.

Des pulled into the circular driveway that connected the two houses, parking right behind the water fountain that obviously wasn't on at the moment.

"You boys can take the bigger cabin, it has two bedrooms, so you can split them up between you guys. I'm sure Ashton will show you around. If you need anything, me and Jay will be just a house over." Des explained, his elbow on the seat of the car as he waited for a response for the boys.

"Got it, dad." Ashton said, taking one for the team and responding for them all.

The boys followed Ashton out of the car, leaving their luggage where it was for the time being. Des gave Ashton the keys to their cabin, going over some rules with him whilst the others were out of earshot. When Des was done talking, he patted Ashton and the shoulder and let him free, to where he walked over to the door and waved the other boys over.

Once the door was unlocked, Ashton swung the door open and spread his arms into a 'tada!' motion as the other boys walked inside.

The cabin was absolutely marvelous, the other side of the door revealing a large room with elegant furniture. It reminded Louis of a house you'd find in a Christmas movie from the 1950s. A strong aroma of pine leaves and cookies wafted their noses, ornaments off a Christmas tree glistening in the corner of the room by the unlit fireplace.

"Wow," Louis breathed out, smiling widely as he kicked off his shoes and walked across the hardwood floor, "This is spectacular!"

"This place is hella rad!" Drew yelled, running over to the couch and belly flopping onto it's materials.

"Drew don't act like an animal, this place is far too nice for your insane behavior." Louis said, scaring himself a bit because he sounded so much like his mother.

"It's quite alright," Ashton started, closing the door behind him to prevent the snow from getting inside, "He's not going to hurt anything. If he does, we'll just replace it, it's not that big of a deal."

"Geez, you guys are going to have to have millions with this one then." Louis said, pointing to Drew and laughing at his own joke.

Surprisingly, he earned a chuckle from Harry also.

Ashton didn't find it that funny and Drew was too busy jumping on the couch to care.

"Uh, how about I show you and Drew around?" Ashton said forcibly, taking off his boots and walking to the center of the room, "This is the living room, obviously. We've got a pretty cool TV in here, the couches are comfy, and a fireplace. Everything else is basically just a filler."

"I can tell," Louis states, examining the odd stature of a bird in the corner of the room. He shoots Harry a look of concern, his response being a shrug of the shoulders and a giggle.

Yes, Harry fucking _giggled_.

Louis concluded that he was either hilarious or Harry was already falling into his charm.

Who was he kidding though, Louis was a fucking comedian.

"As you can see, the stairwell leads up to that hallway up there," Ashton pointed upward to the area above them, barred in by railings, "Those are where the bedrooms and the study are."

"Okay, cool, I think we got this," Louis nods, "So what are we going to do here?"

Ashton walked over to the loveseat by the fireplace, "Dad said we were all going to do family things but I really don't know what consists of. I guess we can go get our stuff from the car while we wait for later confirmation."

Drew groaned, "Do I have to help?"

"Unless you plan on wearing the same exact clothes for 2 weeks, yes." Louis replied, walking over to the door and slipping his shoes back on.

Louis and Ashton carried most of the luggage into the cabin, Harry insisting to help but only managing to carry in Drew's backpack because the other two got everything else in one trip. 

When they got back inside, Ashton put them on the spot for rooming situations.

"We have two bedrooms here, 1 with twin beds and 1 of them only has 1 bed, so I guess 2 of us will have to cram into one of those or someone could take the couch." Ashton explains.

"Drew and I could take the one bed room I guess." Louis says, giving his brother a look of pity.

"I'd rather get skinned alive," Drew says, rolling his eyes, "Can me and Ashton stay in the room with separate beds? This boy don't share a bed with anyone, and I _refuse_ to share a room with Louis, he farts in his sleep."

"Is that okay with you, Ashton?" Louis asks, flashing Drew a look of warning to hide his embarrassment.

"Yeah I guess," Ashton replies, "What about you guys? Either of you fancy sleeping on the couch?"

"Only if he farts in his sleep." Harry responds wittily.

"I do not."

"Don't break that promise, Lou. We'll take the shared bed, then."

"Alright, it's settled then. I'm going to go unpack, I suggest you do the same." And with that, Ashton's grabbed his suitcase and he's gone.

Drew grabs his backpack and his smaller suitcase, tugging it up the wooden stairs (Louis prays that it doesn't scratch) and chases Ashton down about some other video game.

Louis and Harry are left alone, again.

Harry makes the first move, gathering up his luggage in his arms and putting a duffel bag across his chest. Louis follows, groaning as he lifts his unbelievably heavy suitcase up so it doesn't ruin the hardwood stairs.

It's quiet until they get into their bedroom, and Harry is the one to break the silence.

"Please don't fart on my leg tonight."

"I changed my mind, I hate you." Louis replies, sticking his tongue out as he shoves an armful of underwear into the drawer, "And just for that, I will make it my mission to fart on your leg."

"Oh don't be like that, Louis." Harry whined, rolling his eyes at him.

Louis decided that Harry wasn't that bad after all.

\--

It was time for the evening to roll around, and the boys had done absolutely nothing all day. Jay and Des had never come to visit them, and they really weren't that worried since they were next door (except for Ashton, whom of which insisted on calling 12 times).

They had popped in a movie that Drew had stowed in his backpack, and Louis was just surprised that it wasn't the most current season of _How Clean Is Your House?_.

"How about we all go to bed? It's 11:00." Ashton suggested.

"It's only 11:00? There's so much more we can do!" Drew shouted, and Louis wondered why he was always so fucking _loud_.

"For the millionth time, we have 2 weeks here, Drew. Plus we've been up since 6 am please I'm ready to go to bed." Louis complained, pushing himself off the couch. Harry followed.

Louis started up the stairs with Harry trailing behind him, Louis stopped abruptly and yelling down the stairs, "Drew don't forget to brush your nasty ass teeth. You had way to much chocolate tonight."

"Okay, _mother_." Drew spat, hopping off the couch and running up the stairs. Harry and Louis got out of his way as he darted passed at full speed.

Sometimes Louis was jealous of the amount of energy he had.

Tonight was not one of those times.

"I'm not even going to bother." Louis stated, tossing his head over his shoulder at Harry.

"He's so hyper my god." Harry commented, and Louis wasn't even offended.

"I know. I'm pretty sure he cannon balled out of the womb. When I was 13, I was literally the laziest shit."

"My mum actually used to pay me to come out of my room." Harry said, his voice getting soft and Louis pondered to himself about Harry's mum, but he didn't want to ask.

"Mum was the same way with me, but she was always attending to Drew so she really didn't pay attention."

For some odd reason, Louis felt like he was having a sentimental moment with Harry.

The two of them arrived back to their room, Louis already stripping off his shirt before the door even shut behind them.

"Um, I'm going to go change in the bathroom." Harry said awkwardly. Louis saw through the vanity mirror that Harry was trying not to stare at him.

Yes, trying.

"I wouldn't go in there," Louis said, "Drew's probably shitting something the size of your head with all the rubbish he ate tonight."

"I suppose you're right. But won't this be awkward though? I usually don't change in front of people."

Louis gave Harry a once over as he took off his underwear, "Don't flatter yourself."

Louis totally wasn't looking in the mirror to see if Harry was looking at his bare arse (which he _totally_ was, and he was _blushing_ too) and he totally wasn't enjoying the attention from his potential step brother. No way.

Harry changed in the corner of the room when Louis went to throw his clothes in the hamper outside of the bathroom.

He was right, Drew was putting a dent in the septic tank in there.

When Louis got back into the room, Harry was about to go put his clothes in the hamper also.

"How about I take that for you?" Louis offered nicely.

"I'd rather you not touch my underwear, but thanks." Harry replied, walking around him and exiting the room.

Louis counted down in his head for a reaction from Harry, and right on cue, he heard it.

"My god, what the fuck is that smell?" Harry exclaimed loudly, pinching his fingers over his nose.

"I'm sorry!" Drew yelled from the bathroom, and Louis swore he was in tears.

Harry returned to the bedroom, slamming the door behind him.

"I should have let you take the clothes."

"Told you."

"If you fart anything like what you're brother is producing in there, I'm opting for the couch."

Louis squinted his eyes at him, "Go ahead."

"No, it's cold down there at night."

"It's cold everywhere, it's the fucking wintertime."

"But dad's a cheapskate and doesn't leave the heat on at night."

"Then stay up here, but don't complain anymore." Louis said, pulling back the covers and climbing into the bed.

Harry flipped off the light switch, getting into the bed and staying to his own side.

Not even 2 days ago did Louis imagine that he would be sharing a bed with the weird sophomore boy that he toppled over in the hallway.

Nor did he think that he would be getting 2 new stepbrothers.

But hey, things change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know why there seems to be a theme of shit and farts in this chapter but i'm sorry it's probably because they're all boys.


	3. three

Harry was right, Des was a cheapskate and didn't keep the heat on (read: Louis was fucking freezing).

The foreign bedroom was barely lit, the only source of light coming through the not so useful curtains that were hanging loosely over the small window to the left of where Louis was sleeping. And shockingly enough, it didn't even look that early from what Louis could see.

So then why the hell was he up at this outrageous hour?

Probably because Louis had a knee shoved up his ass crack and a head of curls buried into his spine.

But that wasn't the worst part, Harry was a snorer too.

Louis had noticed Harry's weird sleeping habits about point 3 seconds after he had fallen asleep. Louis was still wide awake at the time, trying to settle comfortably into the unfamiliar bed, because he had always had trouble with that when he was younger also. That was the exact reason why Louis never attended many sleepovers as a child, he just couldn't fall asleep in a bed that wasn't his.

Especially with someone who was a stranger to him just a day earlier.

Getting fed up, Louis took a glance at the red numbers on the alarm clock that read 5:36 before pushing the blankets off of himself angrily and moving to what was once Harry's side of the bed.

Louis also learned that Harry was a blanket hog.

"Dammit, Harry." Louis huffed out, fussily pulling some of the covers to his side of the bed. Harry stirred in his sleep, turning over to face Louis and Louis stopped pulling on the blankets mid-tug.

As expected, Harry started to lay toward Louis, his body slowly rising and falling and pink lips slightly open. Louis thought he looked too pretty to disturb, so he decided that he'd let him do what he wanted.

This time.

When Louis woke up again, it seemed like a decent time to actually get up this time.

The other side of the bed was empty, but still warm enough for Louis to know that Harry hadn't been up for that long. Louis checked the clock again, the numbers reading 10:12 am.

Louis swung his feet over to the other side of the bed, shivering as his bare feet touched the cold floor. He sleepily hobbled to the door, yawning into the inside of his elbow as he exited the room and started to venture down the stairs.

"Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Harry remarked, giving Louis a half ass wave from one of the stools in front of the island.

"How long have you guys been up?" Louis asks, making his way over to the empty stool between Harry and Drew.

"Well," Ashton starts on the other side of the island, flipping a pancake in a pan, "Drew here has been up since 6 am. He tried to stay quiet and play on his iPad but he accidentally played some vine really loud and that woke me up. But Harry hasn't been up that long though. Late night?" Ashton asked, eying Louis suspiciously.

"More like long day," Louis says, sitting down, "Mum made us get up at like 6 am yesterday."

"Isn't that the time you'd usually be getting up for school, though?" Harry asked, cutting off a piece of pancake with his fork and shoving it into his mouth.

"Please. I'm rarely up for 10 minutes before I have to leave the house." Louis says, nodding his head at Ashton who was holding up 2 fingers.

"It's true, mum always yells at him to wake up but he never does, but strangely enough he's never late to school."

"It's a talent of mine." Louis replies cheekily, taking a plate from Ashton's hand.

Louis plucked the syrup bottle from Drew's grubby little hands, drizzling it over the top of his own pancakes. "Thanks Ashton." Louis said, hoping the other boys would follow along.

They did, mumbling something relatively similar in between bites of their pancakes, and Louis thought that maybe Harry and Ashton weren't really all that bad.

\--

The day had passed quite slowly, a repeat of the day prior. It was a Saturday so of course they were going to be lazy and not want to do anything, but when they were in the middle of watching one of Drew's dumb reality shows, Harry whispered something to Louis and they escaped from the rest of the crowd.

Louis could tell by the look that Ashton was giving him on the way upstairs that he didn't appreciate him hanging out with Harry, _at all_.

He really couldn't care because they were just friends (and possibly step brothers), weren't they?

Maybe Ashton was seeing something that he wasn't, or Louis was just being ridiculous and he was over thinking this whole thing.

Harry led them to a room that Louis hadn't been to yet, and it was far beyond what Louis had seen so far.

"Ashton didn't show you the study, did he?" Harry asked, taking a key out of the pocket of his jeans and turning it in the door.

Louis shook his head in response, "He mentioned it, but he never bothered to come near here."

"That's because he absolutely hates the study," Harry whispered, and Louis felt glad that Harry found him important enough to tell him this, "We used to come here all the time as kids with our mum, but he grew out of it. He grew out of pretty much everything, actually."

"Sad," Louis said, trying to be sympathetic toward Ashton, but it just wasn't happening.

"Isn't it? I mean, it's just a study." Harry said, pushing the door open.

Louis got a good view of the room, stepping in before Harry did in amazement. The room was bigger than the two bedrooms combined, and at first, Louis mistook it for a library. Shelves of dusty books were lined up against the walls, and a piano was sitting in the middle of the room. An office desk and chair were shoved in the corner, and Louis assumed it was Des'.

" _Just_ a study?" Louis breathed out, almost speechless from the beauty of the room, "This is...I can't even explain it."

"It _is_ pretty amazing, isn't it?" Harry asked, walking over to the piano and taking a seat on the bench, "Can I play for you?"

The question was abrupt, but Louis was really interested.

"Of course, but if your playing is bad, I'm walking out."

"I won't blame you." Harry stated with a smile, shuffling the papers in front of him like most professionals do. Louis would be lying if he didn't think Harry was so dorky it was actually charming.

Harry began to play something of a familiar tune, Louis leaning up against the piano watching his long fingers dance over the black and white keys. Louis was absolutely silent, letting the sound coming from the piano leave him breathless. The music made Louis feel giddy inside, but right now he was too shell-shocked to do anything but smile and watch.

In that moment Louis swore he was in love.

With the music, of course, not Harry. No way.

When the song was finished, Harry hung his head a bit to hide the goofy smile on his face.

Louis clapped respectively, saying, "You're really talented, Harry. I didn't know you had it in you!"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Harry grinned, his dimple deepening and Louis thought that he was going to explode.

"It was a compliment, seriously, you're good!"

"Enough with the flattery, Tommo." Harry teased, pushing Louis lightly on the arm, "Would you like to learn something?"

"Wasn't that the plan?" Louis asked, sliding onto the booth next to Harry.

Louis tried to ignore how close they were, their thighs and elbows touching and he got that surge going up his spine like it usually did when he was too close to someone he fancied. But Louis remembered that he didn't like Harry, or at least he _couldn't_ , because their parents were dating and then they'd be be considered _brothers_.

The whole situation just sucked, Louis decided.

"Well before you learn an actual song, do you any of the keys or notes?" Harry asked, Louis shaking his head no, "Okay, then this is going to take a while."

Harry showed Louis the basics, bumping hands every once awhile and making one of the two blush. Louis was pretty nervous, which was pretty sick because their parents were dating for gods sakes, but Louis forgot about that for a while.

At a weak moment when they weren't paying attention to anything else (which was basically the whole time), Ashton had cracked the door open a bit, watching his brother and Louis get along so well, but in a different way then they should be.

Needless to say, Ashton was pissed, and sort of jealous of their relationship.

Their friendly one, of course. He wasn't into incest or Harry or anything like that, but Harry hadn't been like a real brother to him since their mum died and he didn't like it at all.

Ashton left, leaving the two unknowing boys to their music and laughter and the happiness that Ashton once wanted.

 


	4. four

It took 2 hours for Louis to realize that he was absolutely awful at playing the piano.

"I'm absolutely awful at this!" Louis yelled, jamming his fingers onto the keys and piercing both of their ears with the horrendous sound, "I think I'm actually going to leave the piano playing to you."

"It just takes practice, Lou, you'll get it." Harry assures, pushing up his glasses and nonchalantly rubbing his temples while doing so.

"But I'll never be as good as you."

"And I'll never be as good as you in football. It's okay, at least you tried." Harry said, rubbing circles on Louis' back.

Louis had to bite his lip from moaning at Harry just _rubbing his back_ and that's when he realized that he was going to have trouble with this one.

"I suppose you're right. Thanks for attempting to teach me, though." Louis smiled.

"Any time. If you want to learn again, then just tell me."

"Okay," Louis said, getting up from the bench and walking around the room, "What are all these books, anyway?"

Harry got up from the bench also, now standing so close behind him that Louis could feel the little hairs on his neck stand up, "They're, well, books. About everything, I guess." Harry mumbled lowly into Louis' ear, and he could actually sense Harry's warm breath on the nape of his neck.

"Have you read any of them?" Louis asks, afraid that if he turned around him and Harry would be _way_ too close and Louis might actually grab him and kiss him.

"Most of them, yes," Harry laughs, "You wouldn't believe how boring it gets with no one to spend your time with here," Harry paused for a second, debating on whether or not to finish the rest of his sentence. He decided to just go with it, "That's why I'm glad you and Drew are here. You mostly, because Drew's just-"

"13? Annoying? A fucking pain in the ass?" Louis blurted, subconsciously trying to get Harry to stop talking about Drew and to refocus on him.

"All of the above, no offense," Harry laughed, "But you're none of the above."

"I was aware that I was not 13, but thank you for the other two parts," Louis nodded gleefully, "Who's doing the flattery now, Harry?"

Harry lightly smacked him on the arm, earning a laugh from Louis, "Shut up, I was trying to have a sentimental moment but you just had to ruin it."

"Hey now, it was good while it lasted," Louis insisted, "What do you think would be good for me to read? Since you're the master of books, Mr. Styles."

Harry blushes at the nickname Louis gave him, stumbling over his own feet as he went to find one of his favorite books.

He searched the shelves for a couple minutes, dragging his thumb over the spines of the books until he found what he was looking for.

"Ah!" Harry exclaimed, pulling the book from the shelf with force, "If you're going to start reading, this is the perfect gateway."

" _A Midsummer's Night Dream_?" Louis asks, examining the boring front and back cover, "What's it about."

"Why would I tell you when you can read it?" 

"What if I don't like it?"

"You will." Harry persists.

"But-"

"Louis," Harry sighs, "Just read the damn book."

"Okay," Louis responds, turning over the front cover of the book and reading the few first lines before shutting it again, "Okay, I can do this."

\--

Louis could read the book, and he was.

Oddly, he actually found it hard to put down. The book overall was a modernization of the original play by Shakespeare (which Louis was glad it was, because he never found plays all that interesting anyway) and to his surprise, it wasn't all that bad.

Plus it helped that Harry was the one that picked it out for him, but Louis would _never_ admit that out loud.

\--

A couple nights later when Louis and Harry were in bed, Louis refused to turn off the light on the bed stand until he finished the chapter he was on of the book.

"Oh my god Louis turn the fucking light off," Harry said, turning away from Louis and covering his face with the pillow, "This was such a bad idea."

Louis didn't even _respond_ , that was how involved he was with the damn book.

Harry was getting impatient, so he took action into his own hands and got up to turn the light off himself.

"Harry, stop!" Louis shouted, closing the book and smacking Harry in the side with it, "This is all your fault, anyway!"

"Owwww Louis you're hurting meeee," Harry whines, rubbing his side.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to beat you with a paperback book, my apologies," Louis said sarcastically, rolling his eyes and reopening the book, "Plus I'm almost done, let me finish it tonight and you'll never have to deal with it again."

"Thank god," Harry groaned, getting back into bed.

"Quit being such a bottom," Louis said, trying to reference the book but not realizing how it could be taken a different way.

Harry took it the different way.

"Okay, I'm going downstairs," Harry pushed the covers off of himself, picking up a pillow and heading toward the door.

"Nooooo Harry stay," Louis whimpered, pulling the cutest puppy dog face he could.

Louis smirked as Harry flushed, quickly replacing it with a scowl on his face as he climbed back into bed.

"Fine, but if you're going to read and keep me up, might as well read it out loud to me," Harry insisted, turning to face Louis. In that moment, Harry looked so innocent and childish that Louis thought he might cry.

Louis agreed, clearing his throat and reading the words on the page out loud to Harry, but still being quiet enough that he wouldn't wake up Ashton or Drew. Harry listened patiently, remembering the way the story played out in his head because he had read this about 3 times before, but the way Louis made the words come alive with his different voices for characters and the anticipation he brought made Harry feel like he was a virgin to the story.

Admittedly, Louis just made Harry feel like a virgin.

Which he was, but that really wasn't the point.

Eventually, Harry drifted off to sleep as Louis' words got softer and the story was starting to unwind into the ending. Louis still read out loud even though Harry was sleeping peacefully on the crook of his right arm, not having the heart to stop reading to the boy.

When the book was over, Louis closed it peacefully, setting it on the nightstand and turning off the light. He slowly situated himself comfortably without waking Harry up, and for some reason he felt the need to slightly peck Harry on the forehead.

Harry smiled invisibly, glad that the lights were off now so Louis wouldn't know he was awake the whole time.

\--

The next day was like the rest had been, the occasional visit from Des and Jay, but mostly it was just the 4 boys hanging out again. Drew spent a lot of time in front of the television, switching back and forth between _Pop Idol_ and _Celebrity Big Brother_. Ashton stayed downstairs with Drew, writing in his notebook, from time to time also tuning into the garbage that was on TV.

Louis and Harry, on the other hand, spent their days in the study upstairs. Whether they were sifting through the books or playing the piano or even just laying on the floor and talking to each other, they enjoyed each others company. Out of the 4 boys, they were definitely getting along the best.

Probably not the way they should though.

That evening, whilst Louis and Harry were going through a 'treasure chest', as Harry liked to call it, Drew rushed up the stairs and burst into the room.

"There's a really huge party a couple houses down, mum said I could go if someone older went along," Drew explained, out of breath and clearly ecstatic.

"Who's even throwing it?" Louis asked, drawing a rubber chicken out of the chest and giving Harry an odd look. Harry shrugged in response, laughing and shaking his head at the same time.

"I don't know, some kid."

"Drew how do you even know about this party?" Harry asked, tossing a clump of yarn behind him.

"I have people," Drew said matter of factly, like they should have already known, "Come on, guys, please? It will be fun?"

"Harry if I go you're coming with me," Louis states, smirking to himself.

"What? Why? I don't do parties, I thought that was kind of obvious,"

"I am not going to a party with my 13 year old brother alone, I won't know anyone else there," Louis complains, tugging on Harry's arm, "Pleeeease Harry, for me?" Louis asks, batting his eyelashes.

"Come on Harry, don't ruin my 13 year old dreams."

Giving them both a look of disgust, Harry gives in, "Fuck, fine. _Fine_ , I'll go with. But this is your fault," He points to Louis, "You and your damn long eyelashes."

Drew claps wildly and 'woo hoos' down the stairs.

"What have you gotten me into?" Harry asks, tilting his head lazily to the right.

Louis raised his shoulders, letting them droop as he said, "I can't help it, I like to party."

\--

"What the hell do I even wear to a party?" Harry holds up a sweater that could probably hold 2 of Louis.

"Not that," Louis replies wittily, "Let me pick out your outfit, or else you'll show up looking like the minority. Even if you are the minority of people who 'don't do parties'," Louis made air quotes with his fingers, "You still have to look the part, and trust me, babe, that sweater isn't cutting it."

Harry sighed, stepping away from his drawers of clothing and let Louis ransack through them. Louis didn't quite like what he was seeing, tossing different items of clothing back onto the bed and groaning as he stretched to reach whatever he could.

Louis finally found something decent, a red and black plaid shirt and a pair of dark skinny jeans. He threw them at Harry, saying, "Try this. You're welcome, by the way."

"Isn't this a little casual?" Harry asked, piquing his eyebrow.

"That's the point, you don't wear a fucking suit to a high school party."

"Yeah, yeah. What are you wearing?"

"I don't know yet, I've been too busy attending to your fashion emergency that I haven't had time to work on my own."

"Fuck you," Harry replies, sticking up his middle finger and going to exit the room.

"You would," Louis responds, watching his face flush and Harry quickly scurrying out of the room.

Louis laughed to himself because he had Harry right where he wanted him.

20 minutes later, Drew was nearly pissing himself he was so excited to go. Jay had come over to do the motherly thing to do when your son is going to his first party: take a million fucking pictures. Drew smiled awkwardly in all of them, crammed between Louis and Harry as they plastered on smiles to cover up their screams for mercy.

Des and Ashton, of course, watched them suffer through Jay's wrath of flashing her camera and organizing the boys in a million types of poses.

The only good things about the pictures were the fact that Harry looked totally fuckable in person and on camera, and Louis silently noted himself to steal his mum's camera so he could have a wank to it later.

"Okay, mum, _mum_ , we have to go," Louis laughed out nervously, grabbing Harry by the arm and dragging him away from the camera, "She's like crazy vulture with that camera! She needs to be stopped!" Louis whisper yelled to Harry when they were out of Jay's earshot.

"Oh baby! Have fun!" Jay shouted, tears coming down her cheeks as she embraced Drew so hard his eyeballs might actually pop out.

"Most mothers are," Harry laughed, "But Jay is on a roll. I think dad might actually be reconsidering their relationship over there." Harry stated, discreetly pointing to Des, whom was wearing an expression of pure disgust. Louis almost choked on his own spit from laughing.

"Mum let me go! You're killing my vibe woman, and you're wasting my Axe," Drew claimed, pushing his mother off of him and holding out his arms.

"Drew, let's go," Louis gritted through his teeth.

Jay wailed something else out to them as they pushed through the door all at once, determined to escape her irrational behavior and concern for the 3 of them.

Once they were out of the house, Louis turned to Drew and asked, "Did you get them?"

"It was like stealing candy from an over emotional baby," Drew said, handing them something small and shiny to Louis as he laughed.

"What?" Harry asked, apparently not getting the memo.

Louis tingled a pair of car keys between his index and middle fingers, "Drew snatched mum's keys."

Harry's mouth went agape, "Why would you do that?"

"Because I don't appreciate frost bite on my dick," Louis fired back, unlocking the car, "She'll never know. She's so interested in Des that I could probably snort a line of cocaine in front of her and she wouldn't even notice."

Harry didn't want to admit it, but it was true.

"What if you have something to drink? Who will drive?" Harry asked, getting into the passengers side of the car.

"You're worrying too much, I wouldn't get so intoxicated that I would put you or my little brother at risk. What kind of person do you think I am?" Louis scoffed, jamming the key into the ignition and turning back to face Drew, "Where is this place, anyway?"

"You'll know it when you see it," Drew stated with a smug look on his face, and Louis really wasn't sure what to be looked for, but he just went with it.

After driving aimlessly for about 10 minutes, Louis assumed he had found the place. The house (or mansion, which would better describe this place because it was _huge_ ) had every light on imaginable, shadows of people surpassing windows. Music was blasting throughout the area, and Louis wondered how they hadn't gotten a call of complaint from anyone yet.

"This is it!" Drew exclaimed, unbuckling his seat belt and almost jumping out of the still moving vehicle, "By the way, can you guys like, not hang all over me? I don't want people to know I had to have my brothers chaperone me to a high school party."

"Fine, but at least wait until I park to get out, the party isn't going anywhere."

Louis doubted that Drew even heard him, because he had already gotten out of the car and had started running toward the entrance.

"God dammit," Louis huffed out, taking the keys from the ignition and put them back into his pocket, "I wanted to talk with him about some rules but I guess that's not happening. You ready?"

Harry nodded, getting out of the passengers side and meeting Louis on the driver's side.

They walked into the party, Harry a bit stiff since he had never been to something like this, but Louis calmed him down, putting a hand on his shoulder and whispering, "Relax" into his ear probably a bit too close for comfort. Harry shivered at his words, feeling heat rise to his cheeks and a lump in his throat.

So Harry relaxed, letting the sound of the music pump through his veins and the unfamiliar faces greet him warmly (even though the warm thing in the whole place was the girls who were bent over grinding on guys, but Harry just liked to pretend that he was the center of attention sometimes).

He got even more relaxed when Louis handed him his first drink since like, _ever_. Louis had already downed one, apparently forgetting the entire reason why they were here (Drew) and decided to turn this around on himself, pegging the name 'Party Tommo' from a couple of jocks and girls who were dressed way too skimpy.

"Wanna try it, Haz?" Louis asked, holding a suspicious looking drink that he had already been downing with his eyes twinkling (probably from being buzzed).

"No thanks, I don't really drink." Harry responded quietly.

"That's alright," Louis said, not pressuring him any further and wrapping his lips around the bottle once again and _oh my god_ Harry couldn't stop thinking about his lips wrapped around other things too. Harry's pants tightened at the very thought, and he knew he had to get out of there, _fast_.

"Louis, I'm going for a wee, I'll be back in a couple minutes," Harry said hurriedly, not even waiting for an answer from Louis.

Louis went to follow him to the bathroom, but he got pulled back by his new crowd of people who apparently loved him and thought he was a legend.

Harry walked through the crowd, nonchalantly trying to cover his crotch with his hand as he pushed through the dancing drunkards to wherever the bathroom was. The first door he tried was a bedroom, a couple having sex on the bed and Harry almost screamed. That was most definitely _not_ the place he was looking for.

Eventually he did find the bathroom, knocking slightly and listening in to the doors he passed to make sure he wouldn't repeat of the last incident.

Needless to say, he'd already gone flaccid by time he reach the bathroom.

When Harry flipped on the light switch, he jumped back at his reflection in the awful lighting. His face was flushed and his hair was a mess, probably from the humidity of the room. Harry turned the water on, splashing it up on his face with his hands and drying it with the cleanest towel available.

Harry thought about wasting time in the bathroom so he didn't have to go back out and possibly just let himself go and kiss Louis because even when he was unbelievably drunk he was still the most adorable thing he'd ever witnessed, but he decided against it, pushing the door open and running right into someone else.

"Fuck!" Louis yelped, cupping his hand over his nose.

Harry's hands flew to his mouth, "Shit, Louis, I'm sorry."

"It's okay, Haz," Louis said, using the nickname that made Harry feel like _he_ was the one who was drunk, "Wanna go meet some people I met here? You'd like them."

Harry doubted it, but he agreed.

Harry never thought he'd be sitting in a circle upstairs with a bunch of random drunk strangers 15 minutes later.

When he and Louis had gone back to find the circle of people Louis decided to associate himself with for the night, they all insisted they play a game of 7 minutes in heaven with the nearby bedroom. Harry didn't even know people in high school still played that, but he went with it anyway.

Needless to say, Harry was nervous.

It was coming dangerously close to Louis' turn, and Harry didn't think he'd be able to handle watching Louis lead some girl in a scarce amount of clothing into a bedroom for 7 minutes. No way.

"Yo, Party Tommo," A guy with oddly tan skin and bulging muscles said when whomever had just returned, well, _returned_ , "How about you take your boyfriend?"

Harry froze, Louis grabbing his hand before he could say anything, "Alright."

When they got into the bedroom, Harry said, "You told them I was your boyfriend?" His eyebrows knitting together in confusion.

"Shit, Harry, I'm sorry. I didn't tell them anything, I guess they just assumed? I don't know," Louis replied, going to sit on the bed.

"I wouldn't sit there if I was you," Harry said, eying the fairly recent cumstain on the bed. Louis avoided it, standing up quickly and laughing at himself.

Then it was quiet again, because they were playing a game designed for sex and they were going to possibly be related soon.

"So," Harry started, clearing his throat, "What are we going to do for the next 6 minutes?"

"The only thing there is _to_ do," Louis smirked, stepping closer, and Harry could swear that someone glued his feet to the floor because he couldn't move, or breathe, or even think.

Harry's heart was pounding in his ears as Louis got a little too close for comfort, his hands cupping Harry's jawline as he leaned into him, and Harry felt like all the air had been sucked out of the room and he was suffocating. Soon enough, Louis' lips were on his before Harry even knew how to react. Harry kissed back, the two of them surprisingly moving their lips together in a steady rhythm even though Louis was piss drunk.

Harry was trying to forget about that aspect of things, but it was kind of hard to when Louis tasted like vodka.

Harry decided to stop being so analytical about the whole thing and to just give in because drunk or not Louis was _fucking tonguing him right now_. And most people do or say things they really mean when they're drunk, don't they?

So he just went with the kiss, letting Louis be the dominant one because he obviously had more experience. Louis had his hands in Harry's hair, slowly caressing down his back and up the bottom of his shirt. Harry leaned into him, mushing their faces closer together so it wasn't as distant and awkward.

Just when things were starting to get more heated between them (read: Louis' hands were wandering down to Harry's bum) there was a rap on the door and their time was up. Harry groaned in displeasure, breaking away from the kiss and silently putting a curse on whoever was on the other side of the door.

Louis and Harry exited the room, Harry trying to ignore the tent that was building in his _and_ Louis' pants, trying to hide his flushed expression from everyone else in the room.

Then Harry remembered: Drew.

"Fuck, Louis, we need to check on Drew," Harry said, poking Louis awkwardly on the side.

Louis turned about 30 shades paler than he was just a second ago, panting and red as an apple, "You're right. Shit, I haven't seen him since we got here."

They ventured out to find Drew, checking bedrooms and hoping that things hadn't gone that far. Louis spotted him about 5 minutes into the search, up at the bar with some girls that were _way_ too old for him. Harry stopped for a moment, watching the girls closer, and holding his arm out to stop Louis from going any closer.

Something wasn't right here.

Drew turned his attention away from them for a split second, and that's when Harry saw it, one of the girls slipped something into his drink.

Harry gasped, turning to Louis, who's initial reaction was much different than his.

"Wait here, Haz," Louis slurred, going over to the girls and Drew.

"Yo, Drew, my man," Louis started, his voice immediately changing from angry to playful, "I've got this super hot girl who wants to talk to you over there, come with me."

Drew hopped off the bar stool, giddy, and Harry was amazed at how coolly Louis played that off as.

"Where is she?" Drew asked, his eyes wide as a deer.

"I'll explain in the car."

Back in the car, Harry insisted on driving them home, since he was probably the most sober one of them both (which was sad because he was 3 years older than Drew).

Louis called shotgun, sitting with his chin on the top of the seat as he faced Drew with a look of concern.

"Drew, I had to get you away from those girls," Louis started, biting his lip, "Did they give you anything to drink?"

"Yeah, but I didn't have a chance to actually drink it because you basically pulled me out by my ear," Drew complained, even though that wasn't the case.

"I saw them put something in your drink," Harry announced, gripping the steering wheel tighter.

"Oh."

"Do you know how dangerous that is? You don't ever turn away from your drink at parties or take them from anyone else, do you hear me?" Louis said, his voice elevating, and Harry could actually feel the hypocrisy, but he wasn't going to say that out loud.

"Maybe if you actually would have stayed with me the whole time and didn't down 2 bottles of vodka, we wouldn't be having this talk right now."

_Bingo._

"How do you have any idea what I did? You were so anxious to get in there that you nearly killed yourself getting out of the car!"

"I can smell it on your breath all the way back here. Am I right, Harry?" Drew asked, putting Harry on the spot.

Harry gulped, not saying anything in response.

"Okay, then if we're including Harry in this, how about we ask him what you said before you literally torpedo jumped out of the car." Louis shouted, his voice getting low and Harry had never heard him get angry like that.

"Harry?" Drew asked, and Harry had no idea what to do.

Drew _did_ ask for them to leave him alone and not to hover, but shouldn't it have been there place anyway? He was only 13, they never should have let him run around a party for high school kids like that.

"Why does it even matter? We're all okay, we shouldn't be putting the blame on anyone," Harry stated, "Let's just agree that we were all in the wrong here. Drew wanted his freedom but we still should have checked up on him. There it's a win-win situation, everyone happy?" Harry asked, his voice shaking as he choked back tears because he _hated_ confrontation.

There was no response, just a sniffle from the backseat and a moan from the passengers side.

The rest of the ride was silent, aside from the occasional sob coming from Drew (for god knows why) and a groan of pain coming from Louis.

Harry drove up into the circular driveway, opening the drivers side and slamming it, making his way into the house without checking on either Louis or Drew.

It was late when they got home, Harry immediately tending to Drew and tucking him into bed and assuring him everything would be alright. Ashton was already asleep in his bed, and Louis was drunk out of his mind, so Harry felt like it was his place to step up and be a brotherly figure to Drew.

Drew fell asleep pretty quickly, only changing his pants and brushing his teeth prior to passing out on top of the covers on his bed.

Louis, on the other hand, was occupied in the bathroom, grotesquely vomiting everything he had to drink that night. When Drew was asleep, Harry went into the bathroom, crouching down next to Louis and rubbing his back while he threw up the remnants of that night.

"Why did I fucking drink so much?" Louis groaned, sitting back from the toilet bowl when he was out of vomit.

Harry held him while he shook from the violent session he'd just had, "I don't know, why don't you ask Party Tommo?"

Louis just whimpered in response, resting his head in the crook of Harry's shoulder. This is the closest they'd been since their make out session back at the party.

They sat their for a while, Louis sniffling a couple times and feeling like he was going to throw up, but most of the time they spent, he was just shaking and moaning and holding his head into his hands. Harry's heart went out to him, but he should of thought of these consequences before he downed almost an entire bottle of vodka.

"You feel better now?" Harry asked in a hushed tone, Louis nodding with his jaw slack. Even though he was just throwing up, Louis still managed to look absolutely gorgeous.

Or maybe Harry was just _that_ smitten.

"How about we clean you up, yeah? You smell like a walking sweat sock," Harry said, earning a giggle from Louis as he complied.

"Can you give me a bath or summat? I'm too weak to shower." Louis asked, weakly attempting to hide that everlasting smug look that was resting on his face.

"Um, sure, I guess," Harry agreed, starting up the tub and then turning away when Louis got undressed and situated himself into the bathtub and maybe he peaked in the bathroom mirror a bit, but who had to know?

"Safe to look now?"

"Yup."

Harry faced Louis again, sitting on the top of the toilet lid as he rested his head on the back on the bath tub. It was pretty quite, Louis occasionally asking Harry to reach him the shampoo or the body wash, but Harry was just glad that Louis didn't ask him to help him wash. Honestly, Harry would probably cum in his pants just from _that_ and it was pretty sad, actually.

After Louis did all the necessities like washing his hair and the rest of his body, it was time for him to get out, and Harry wasn't sure how this was going to go.

"Do you want me to leave the room so you can get out and dry off and stuff?" Harry asked nervously, "I could go get your clothes for you if you'd-"

"I want you to help me out," Louis whined, making grabby hands at Harry and batting his dumb ass eyelashes again.

"Okay," Harry concurred, grabbing the towel off the rack and putting it in front of Louis' cock to shield himself (even if he didn't want to). He pulled Louis out, letting him dry off as he went to fetch some pajamas for him.

When he came back, he opened the door without knocking and he went red in the face because _oh my god he had just gotten a full view of Louis naked_.

"Shit! I'm sorry!" Harry said, averting his gaze quickly (again, even if he didn't want to).

"It's fiiiiine, Haz," Louis said, taking the clothes from Harry, "If you're going to be that _anal_ about it, go change in the room while I'm changing here."

Harry rolled his eyes, feeling the sweat form under his armpits from embarrassment because he was _always_ doing that and it was so awkward for him because he had no idea what to do.

Then he thought that maybe Louis _wanted_ him to walk in on him naked, or wanted him to stare at his bum the first night they got here.

Harry pushed the thought of, but then he remembered that it _was_ Louis that made the first move and kissed him back at the party. Harry argued to himself that that incident was only part of a game and because Louis was drunk out of his mind, but either way it still happened.

Louis returned about 5 minutes later in the sweatpants and t shirt Harry had given him to change into, Harry already peacefully laying in bed.

Louis climbed in next to him, switching off the light and cuddling into his pillow.

Harry may or may not have cuddled up to him, subconsciously of course.


	5. five

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's a lot of smutty stuff. you have been warned.

The following day was _full_ of arguing and lectures from Jay and Des, but mostly from Jay.

In the morning, Louis was so hungover that he could barely even open his eyes, let alone go downstairs to join the rest of his family for their big 'Tomlinson-Styles Family Breakfast' (as Jay liked to call it). His mother was the first to notice his absence, the rest of the boys acting like he was just in the bathroom or he was still asleep. Jay, of course, made a big scene, searching through the rooms until she found Louis downing a couple aspirin, the smell of vodka _still_ potent in the bathroom from the night before.

Louis got a lecture about drinking when he was supposed to be taking care of his little brother, Jay's voice echoing all the way down to the dinner table and scaring the whits out of everyone down there. The table was quiet, no one making a sound or daring to move until her wrath was over. When Jay returned downstairs, she was gripping Louis tightly by the arm and she just stood there for a few seconds, her hair array and her eyes wide with anger.

"The rest of you boys, come with me," Jay said firmly, pulling Louis away and making him whimper.

Louis shot Harry a look of plead, his eyes barely open and his face pale with regret and pain.

Des excused Harry and Drew to go with Jay, leaving himself alone with Ashton once again. Ashton gave Des a displeased look, smirking to himself behind his glass of orange juice and discreetly eavesdropping on Jay's conversation with the other boys.

The boys sat perched on the couch, terrified of what was ready to come. Harry was biting his nails nervously, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Louis, who was draped over the couch with his hand over his eyes. Drew was shaking his leg on the wooden floor, the inside of his cheek in the middle of his teeth.

"You boys want to tell me anything?" Jay asks, pacing across the white carpet that's laying in front of the couch, "Maybe why my son has a hangover sent from Hell, or why the upstairs bathroom smells like someone spilled an entire bottle vodka on the floor?"

No one wanted to answer, and they didn't. The only response Jay got was a couple blank stares from Harry and Drew, Louis groaning as he rubbed his temples.

"Aright, then, if no one's going to talk, then we can sit here all day until someone does," Jay pulled up the arm chair and sat it across from the couch.

It was still quiet.

"Drew I'm revoking your iPad privileges," Jay said, a serious tone in her voice.

"What? Why me?" Drew asked with a shrill voice.

"Because you're the youngest, and you're always honest with me. If you want your iPad back, then you should start explaining,"

"Fine," Drew surrended, his eyes growing sad as they wandered to the floor, not wanting to make eye contact with his disappointed mother.

"At the party, I kind of got away from Harry and Louis because I wanted freedom. They tried looking for me, and it took a while for them to find me, but they got right to me at the exact right moment," Drew lied, the twisted truth pouring from his tongue, "I promise, mum, this is mostly my fault."

"Okay, thank you Drew," Jay smiled weakly, "But why on earth does Louis have a hangover?"

Louis grunted just at the sound of the word 'hangover'.

"I don't know," Drew said softly, looking at Harry in request to take it from there.

"Well, we got a little sidetracked when we tried to find Drew," Harry replied nervously, wiping his sweating hands on his pants leg, "Louis had a couple drinks and I don't drink so I stood on the sidelines, keeping an eye out for this little one, and of course because there needed to be a designated driver and-"

"Driver?" Jay asked, and Harry knew he fucked up, "I thought you boys walked?" Jay shook her head in confusion, "Who's car did you take?"

"Yours," Drew admitted, "I took the keys out of your pocket when you became a human suction cup."

Jay's face turned stone cold, her eyes slanting, "You took my car to a party? Who even drove you there?"

"I drove on the way there, and obviously I was too inebriated to drive home so Harry did," Louis spoke up for the first time that morning.

"So he talks," Jay said, "And admits to drinking, how wonderful. Can you boys leave for a couple minutes? Go finish your breakfast, I need to have a few words with Louis."

Harry and Drew slowly got off the couch, walking regretfully back into the small dining room where Ashton and Des were sat. Once they closed the door leading to the dining room, Jay pulled her seat closer to Louis and just stared at him for a couple seconds.

"My eldest son," She spoke shamefully, "Louis, I thought we were passed this ages ago? You told me no more drinking or partying and god knows what else you did," Louis flinched, vaguely remembering chugging about 4 vodka shots in a row, "This is going to stop, _now_. Do you know how much trouble Drew could have gotten into? He's only 13 years old, you know-"

"He almost did," Louis confessed, "I saved him, mum. These girls were giving him a glass of god knows what and Harry saw them slip something in there. I got him out as fast as I could. I don't ever want something like that to happen to him." Louis choked out, tears spilling from his eyes and over his cheeks.

"Well I'm glad you did, but this is it for partying, for the both of you," Jay decided, running a hand through Louis' hair, "I'm going to need you to go upstairs, take 3 Advil, and lay yourself down for a nap. Be up before 4, because Des and I have planned a nice, family dinner. You'll feel better by then, promise."

"Thanks mum," Louis said, getting off the couch and wiping his eyes, "Love you."

"Love you too," Jay smiled, "Go get some rest."

Louis gave her a thumbs up, turning around and trudging lazily up the stairs. Jay lingered for a minute, waiting for him to get upstairs into the bathroom before returning to her family for breakfast.

\--

"Yo, Louis, wake up," Harry rapped on the outside of the door for approximately the 30th time in the last 2 minutes, and his knuckles were starting to hurt.

"Go away," Louis muffled into the pillow.

"Don't make me come in there," Harry teased, "It would be a shame if I had a glass of water in my hand, just waiting to be dumped all over your pretty little head."

Louis groaned, throwing the sheets off his sweaty body, "Fuck you, fine, I'm up."

"I'm coming in now," Harry opened the door and let himself in, "Feeling any better?" Harry asked, sitting on the edge of the bed and handing Louis the glass of water he was holding.

"Yeah, a lot better, actually," Louis reddened, taking the glass from Harry, "So is mum still on a rampage or is she calm now?" Louis took a sip, "By the way, what is this whole dinner thing she's talking about?"

"She's better," Harry nodded, "Jay and dad planned this huge fancy family dinner for tonight. They're ordering the most expensive food on the menu from the lodge and they're insisting that we wear fancy clothes because, well, your mum is demanding to take pictures."

Louis laughed, "She's such a Momzilla. Ugh, fuck, I don't want to dress up. How fancy are we talking?"

"Buttons downs, khakis, black dress pants, I don't know." Harry shrugged, and in that moment, images of him kissing Harry popped up in his brain.

Louis was quiet for a second, looking at Harry intently as he tried to remember if he really kissed him last night or if he was just imagining things. He didn't want to ask him, because that would be so awkward for the both of them if it hadn't happened.

So Louis just made the rash decision to just go ahead and kiss him and to see how he reacted.

He really didn't think this one through.

Louis leaned forward, almost toppling Harry with his body as he lunged for his lips. The kiss was softer than the one the night before, Louis not intoxicated this time and choosing to do this with his own mindset.

Harry was startled at first, realizing what was happening a couple seconds. Harry tilted back, letting Louis guide the kiss with his lips at first, then adding in his tongue. It felt more real this time because neither of them were high off of the energy at the party, and Harry's chest filled with excitement because this time it was Louis kissing him, and not the alcohol.

They let themselves go with it, lips moving flowingly and tongues wrestling with each other. Louis noticed how pillowy Harry's lips were against his own thin excuse of lips. Louis thought he tasted like syrup and a sweet taste that was just so Harry, and he thought that he could just do this forever.

Harry, on the other hand, was in bliss. Louis was almost all the way on top of him, pinning him down with his knees on the outskirts of his hips. Harry ran his hands up and down the arch of Louis' back, fussing with the hem of his shirt.

"Boys!" Jay yelled from downstairs, Louis' heart dropping, "Don't forget to get ready, we're leaving for the other house in about two hours!"

Louis pulled away from Harry, smiling down at Harry (who looked absolutely wrecked and Louis could just fuck him right then and there) and pecking him once again on the lips, "We should probably get dressed. Can't risk someone walking in on _that_."

Harry laughed, still hazy from kissing Louis and _oh my god they were so close to doing something else_.

Louis got up from the bed, opening his drawers in attempt to find something dressy. Thankfully, he had packed a navy blue button down, but couldn't seem to find a pair of pants that his mother wouldn't beat him to death for wearing to dinner.

"Hey, Haz?" Louis asked, "Do you have any extra khakis?"

"Lucky for you," Harry smirked, pulling a pair of the tan pants out of his drawer, "I do." He tossed them to Louis and they landed on the bed.

"Thanks," Louis responded, stripping off his sweatpants before Harry had the chance to turn around again.

Harry turned beat red, quickly turning around and Louis whispered out sexily from the other side of the room, "You still don't have to get nervous about that, you know. I don't care if you look."

"Okay," Harry replied, still not fixating his gaze on him because if he did, he probably wouldn't be able to control himself from dropping to his knees and sucking him off right there.

They both got dressed, Harry opting for a black and white combination whilst Louis settled for his blue shirt and khakis. Harry thought that Louis looked like a really hot teacher, and he was afraid that he wouldn't be able to keep his hands off him in front of their family.

To make matters worse, Louis slicked his hair back into a quiff, and Harry went speechless.

"Do I look okay?" Louis asked, his voice arrogant, as usual.

"You look more than okay, you look stunning," Louis scoffed, "No seriously, Lou, you look _so_ perfect." Harry breathed out, glad that he was finally be able to speak these words out loud.

"So do you," Louis smiled, the skin around his eyes crinkling when he did, "Come on, it's almost time. We should go down there before your mum gets any more mad at us than she already is." Harry said, motioning him toward the door.

"Okay," Louis said following him out, "Don't try to drool over me at dinner," He finished, smacking Harry lightly on the ass while they were still out of sight.

This didn't stop either, when they were taking pictures, Louis was always finding a way to touch Harry to rise a reaction out of him. Like in one of the pictures, Louis made it a point to stick his hand down the back of Harry's pants, getting him to pull an o-face in one of the pictures.

But that was nothing compared to what happened at dinner.

Jay and Des were making a toast, talking about how eventually they were going to be one big family and all that jazz. While this was happening, Harry feels a warm hand on the top of his thigh and that almost makes him drop his glass. He shoots a death glare at Louis, who's wearing an expression of satisfaction.

"Stop," Harry hisses, "We're at the dinner table."

"And?" Louis whispers back, moving his hand to Harry's crotch, palming him through the fabric of his pants, "I can't wait any longer, please."

Harry bites his lip to hold back a moan, obliging to Louis' touch under the table, "Fine."

"But you have to be quiet, can't let them hear you. That's for later," Louis winked, unbuttoning the top of Harry's pants and pulling the zipper down.

"Cheers to a happy family for now and forever," Jay smiled, taking Des' hand in hers, holding her glass up with her free hand, "Cheers!"

"Cheers!" Everyone echoed back, Harry's voice cracking on the last syllable.

"Now let's eat!" Des exclaimed, clapping his hands together joyfully.

Louis leaned into Harry's shoulder, whispering in his ear, "How about I eat you out later, yeah?"

Shivers went down Harry's spine, body frozen with his hand around his glass and his eyes blown wide.

"Harry? You alright, son?" Des asked, shooting him a look of concern.

"Yeah I'm quite-" Louis ran his fingertips along the length of his prick "-nng, fine," Harry said, stifling out a laugh, "Just really excited about us all becoming a family. Really."

"Me too," Des smiled, returning his attention to his food.

Louis pulled Harry's length all the way out of his pants, stroking it from the base to the tip several times, multitasking and eating his dinner at the same time. Harry wasn't that focused though, his head was spinning and he could barely even think about acting normal.

He continued to pump Harry, tightening his grip and squeezing right before Louis got to the head of his cock. This time when Louis pumped downward, he rubbed his thumb along the vein on the underside, earning a moan from Harry (which was badly covered up with a cough).

Harry just couldn't believe that he was letting Louis _jerk him off at the dinner table in front of their entire family,_ but the regret of that disappeared when he remembered that Louis' fingers were wrapped around his dick.

Things were starting to become blurry now and the heat was pooling in Harry's stomach like _crazy_. Before he knew it, Harry was coming all over Louis' knuckles, squeezing his eyes together and his breathing becoming erratic.

When he opened his eyes, he noticed that everyone was looking at him, besides Louis, who's hand was now absent.

"You're acting weird, Harry. Is the dinner not good?" Jay asked with a frown, concerned.

"Of course! I just...need to go to the bathroom," Harry said, purposely knocking over his fork. He forced a laugh, red in the face from both embarrassment and his orgasm. Harry went under the table, shoving his cock back into his pants and retrieving his force, slamming it back onto the table and quickly exiting the room to hide his hard on.

Louis discreetly pulled his phone out of his pocket, sending off a quick to Harry.

_6:23 pm - Haz_

_got a cumstain on your pants, should take care of that xx_

"Louis, no texting at the table," Jay said sternly, raising her eyebrow as a warning for him to put it up.

"Sorry, mum," Louis smiled innocently, shoving his phone back into pocket and taking another sip of his drink.

\--

"What the hell, Louis?" Harry asked as soon as they got back into their bedroom, "Everyone thinks I'm crazy now!"

"You're the one who let me give you a hand job under the table," Louis replied, his tone full of snark, "You could have said no."

"True, but you're making it up to me later," Harry concurred.

Harry really wasn't mad at Louis, honestly. He just wanted to see if he could get more out of him because if he could give a hand job like that _under a table_ , then just imagine what else he could do in the bedroom. He knew that Louis would give it up to him anyway, but it was kind of fun to mess with him.

"Indeed I shall," Louis smiled, leaning into Harry and pecking him on the cheek, "Get changed into your sweats so we can go back downstairs, mum wants us all to have a family movie night in front of the telly."

"Alright, sit by me though. I'll miss you too much," Harry whined.

"I always sit by you, please."

\--

The movie was halfway over and Louis was bored. He was resting on an armchair, Harry crammed on there also, with a blanket over the two of them. They were holding hands under the blanket, Harry's head laying on Louis' shoulder.

Louis unclasped his hand from Harry's, moving it to his crotch and palming his through his sweatpants.

"Not here," Harry hissed through his teeth, and Louis removed his hand, "Meet me in the kitchen in a couple seconds though."

When the movie reached a midpoint in the movie, Harry lifted himself off the chair, saying, "Anyone want something to eat? I'm going to make myself some popcorn."

Harry was bombarded with a laundry list of orders, as expected.

"Louis, can you help me in the kitchen?" Harry asked, his voice inviting.

"Yeah sure," Louis responded, getting up and trailing behind Harry like a lost puppy to the kitchen. When they entered, Harry flipped on the light switch, and Louis closed the door lightly behind them.

"Do what you gotta do, Haz. I'll be waiting here, taking half the credit when you're done," Louis said, hopping up on the counter.

"Only if I get to kiss you while you're up there, then," Harry smirked, taking the plastic package off the popcorn bag and popping it in the microwave.

"Be my guest," Louis said, holding his arms out toward Harry with a grin on his face.

Harry placed his hands on Louis' hips, initiating the kiss this time. Louis wrapped his legs around Harry's waist, pulling him closer into the kiss. Harry felt like fireworks were going off in his mind at the moment, like he was in one of those cheesy movies made in the 90s for a teenage girls sleepover, but better.

Louis moved his hands from Harry's back to his jawline, sliding them into the back of his curly hair and pushing his face more into the kiss. Louis licked Harry's bottom lip, Harry opening his mouth with a moan and allowing him in.

Their make out session was so intense that Louis was basically leaning on the cabinet behind him with his hard on pressed onto Harry's stomach.

The beeping of the microwave interrupted them, Louis groaning as Harry pulled away from the kiss, pecking him once again before he turned away to retrieve the popcorn from the microwave.

"Sorry I had to cut it short, it's just that my partner in crime is leaving _me_ to do all the work," Harry shrugged, emptying out the bag of popcorn into the bowl.

"That's how it'll be later, too," Louis teased, waggling his eyebrows at Harry.

Harry threw the empty bag of popcorn at him.

After about 3 more batches of popcorn and 3 more make out sessions, Harry and Louis were making trips back out to the family room. Then something happened.

Louis had always suspected Ashton to be a little...protective of Harry. Louis always found it a little creepy though, and it made things worse when he glanced down at the tent in Louis' pants, then to Harry, and then back at Louis. He slanted his eyes at him, a look of knowing on his face.

He tried to ignore it, to ignore Ashton honestly, but after that, he felt like he was watching and Harry the whole time. He felt Ashton's eyes on them for the rest of the movie, how close and cuddled they were on the armchair, and the invisibility of their hands under the blankets.

When the movie ended, Harry was hesitant to go back upstairs, but Louis decided the linger for a while to clear the air with Ashton. Mostly because he didn't trust him, but he realized that him and Ashton really hadn't bonded.

Harry went upstairs, Louis whispering to him that he'd be up in a couple minutes. Louis walked straight over to his mother and Des, giving them hugs before they left. He also walked them out, showing them the good kid he could be instead of the hungover mess they had seen just that morning.

Then only Drew and Ashton were left, Louis promising Drew that he'd tuck him in that night and to go get ready for bed.

Ashton, his only target, was still standing.

"Hey Ashton," Louis said sweetly, "I feel bad that we haven't really had time to hang out this entire trip and I don't really know you that well."

"Well maybe if your head wasn't shoved up Harry's ass most of the time, we wouldn't have this problem, now would we?" Ashton replied, giving Louis a close lipped smile before rolling his eyes and turning away.

"Look, it's not like that," Louis defended.

"Even if it was, and _it is_ , I don't really care. If you think talking to me about this is going to make me not want to tell your _mommy_ or my dad, then you're wrong because I could already give a fuck less if you fucked him right in front of me. It's not my place to do anything about it, but just know it's going to have to end soon because your mum is currently smitten with my father and that's just how it is," Ashton said, his voice stern but at the same time very rude. He pushed passed Louis, walking up the stairs and leaving him breathless.

Louis just stood there for a second, processing everything Ashton just said. Before over thinking anything, Louis decided to push it to the back of his mind.

He ran into Drew in the hallway, who (sadly) hadn't forgotten the story that Louis had promised him earlier. Sighing, Louis followed Drew into his and Ashton's room, tucking Drew in and kissing him on his forehead. He took Drew's iPad out of his bag, sitting at the foot of his bed and reading him a story from his book section. 

Louis was often stumbling over words, tongue-twisting himself on the simplest words because all he could think about was Harry waiting for him in their bedroom. He was surprised by the end of the story that he hadn't blurted out some type of penis-related word during the period of the story, and he was quite proud of himself for that also.

Drew's eyes were drifting off when Louis left, Ashton giving him a small wave, and Louis took that as a sign of truce.

Literally sliding across the hardwood floor of the hallway, Louis was back at his and Harry's bedroom door, and he could hear soft moans coming from the room.

Louis pushed the door open to see Harry laying on the bed, his cock between his hands and his cheeks red.

"Fuck," Louis managed to get out, taking his t shirt off quickly and tossing it off to the side.

Harry looked up, a smug look on his face and his pupils blown with lust, "Couldn't wait for you any longer, Lou. You said you wouldn't be-ugh- long gone."

"I know, I'm sorry," Louis said, pulling his sweatpants off the bottom of his ankles, "I got caught up with stuff and Drew wanted to read me him a story before bed. C'mere, I'll make it up to you."

Harry stopped pumping, Louis laying on the bed in between his legs. Louis started by pressing his lips on the inner part of his thigh, sucking a purple bruise there.

"Oh my god Louis enough of that," Harry said, his voice still breathy, "Just suck me off."

Louis obliged, admiring how pretty Harry looked all spread out for him, and how pretty his dick looked flushed against his tummy. Louis gave in, wrapping his fingers around Harry's prick and teasing the tip with his tongue, licking off the pre cum.

Harry whimpered out his name, voice cracking and all, Louis went down on him. His thin lips slid up and down the length of his cock. Harry's trembling hands reached for Louis' hair, running his hands through it.

Louis flat his tongue on the underside of his length, making the boy grunt with pleasure. Harry's hands were tugging and pushing at the older boys hair, moving his head in different directions.

"L-Lou..." Harry trailed off, his voice cracking as Louis bobbed his head on his cock, hollowing his cheeks inward and Harry thought he was going to explode.

Then for a split second, Louis slowed, making complete eye contact with him through his thick eyelashes, and Harry lost it.

Harry started coming, giving Louis no warning before doing so.

"Fuck, Harry," Louis panted out, letting some of the cum catch on his lips as he popped off.

"I'm sorry," Harry said softly, still riding out his orgasm.

"No, don't be sorry about that, you're fine," Louis said, leaning up to kiss Harry lightly on the lips, "I just can't believe we just did that."

"I know," Harry smiled, his head still spinning, "I love you."

Louis froze, hovering halfway above Harry's body. He wondered if he heard him right or if he was just imagining it, imagining this whole thing even. Louis opened his mouth to say it back, but nothing would come out. He was too shocked because how had he let himself fall so quick? Louis had always been the type to never fall in love, his only relationships lasting a bottle of vodka and a quickie, but what was this? Was it love?

After a light year of over exaggerated thinking later, Louis realized that he still hadn't said anything back, and Harry was starting to look worried too.

"I love you too," Louis finally said, loving the way the words rolled off his tongue, and he wanted to say it all the time, because he _did_ love Harry.

Harry smiled back at him, breathless, just pulling him down on top of him into another wonderful kiss.


	6. six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I skipped school to finish this chapter, so I hope you guys like it.

It was the day before Christmas Eve.

Which also meant that it was the day before Louis' birthday.

"How about we all go out for a family shopping trip today?" Jay suggested as they were all sat around he dining room table once again for breakfast, "We could drive out to the mall that Des was telling me about a couple nights ago and we could buy each other gifts for tomorrow morning!"

The only response she got was a groan from everyone else at the table because, come on, they were all boys, why would they want to Christmas shop for each other? Even _if_ Louis and Harry were gay, shopping was neither of their thing.

"Can you just do it, mum? You usually buy our presents to people and say we picked them out ourselves," Drew said, shoving a forkful of pancakes into his mouth.

"Because, Drew, it could be a good family experience for us. Don't you think it would be great to bond with your new family outside of the house?" Jay asked, taking a sip of her orange juice, "It's settled, we're going."

"But-" Drew started, his eyebrows piquing.

"No buts," Jay interrupted, his face growing stern, "We're _going_."

Drew rolled his eyes in reply, looking over to Louis in a look of plead to do something, but he just shrugged his shoulders and continued eating. When Drew turned his gaze away from Louis, Louis bumped Harry's leg under the table, Harry kicking him with his foot as an reply. Even if it was a small, stupid gesture, it was still better than Louis giving Harry another fucking _hand job_ under the table.

Breakfast eventually came to an end, the time rolling by quicker when Harry and Louis were paying some sort of attention to each other. Progressively, they went from bumping legs and small kicks to full out hand holding, a more sentimental approach than the events of the night before. Of course, the physical stuff they did was amazing, but Louis really just enjoyed Harry's company even if it was just a slight knock to the leg or if they were only making eye contact, Louis thought it was all really breathtaking.

Jay had asked the boys to help clean up, Drew quickly skipping off and making up the excuse that he had to shower and get ready (which Louis was glad he did because he was starting to smell). So that left Louis and Harry alone with Ashton, to which whom Louis was still not on great grounds with. After the little tiff they had last night, Louis still had a feeling of disliking and distrusting toward him. It was probably just paranoia, but he couldn't help but feel Ashton's eyes burning through him every time he would even _glance_ at Harry.

The tone of the room was tense, Jay taking dishes from the boys and putting them into their own personal bubble bath in the sink. Louis stuck close to Harry, avoiding Ashton's quiet wrath of attention and supposed not caring. Louis thought that Ashton could swear up and down that the relationship between him and Harry didn't bother him one bit, but there had to be something there that was ticking him off enough for him to watch their every move.

Louis decided that Ashton was a human hawk.

The four of them worked as a team, Jay letting the dirty dishes and glasses and silverware kerplunk as it hit the steamy water, sinking to the bottom of the sink. The last plate was grabbed by both Louis and Ashton, sending a surge of danger through Louis' body as his eyes trailed up Ashton's body and then meeting his eyes, Ashton mumbling out, "I've got this," as he pulled the dish from Louis' grasp and walked back into the kitchen.

"Was that the last?" Harry asked, exiting from under the kitchen's archway.

"Yeah," Louis replied, his voice coming out in an unexpected shake.

It wasn't that Louis was scared of Ashton, it was just the fact that he always looked so disapproving and conniving every time Louis unfortunately made eye contact with him. That was the basis of the problem, Ashton was smart enough to figure out that there was something going on with Louis and Harry (which, honestly, they were being really obvious) when no one else had batted an eyelash at their close behavior. Louis found this extremely intimidating, and as much as he wanted to be on his good side, he wasn't sure if Ashton could be trusted or not.

"Come upstairs with me," Harry whispered in Louis' ear, tearing his attention away from the kitchen and interrupting his deep thoughts about the situation.

"Okay," Louis agreed, giving the room one more glance and then following Harry up to their shared bedroom.

When Louis and Harry escaped the company downstairs and into their own personal solitude, they just stared at each other for a bit, taking in the awe inspiring features that both of them had to offer. Louis stared into Harry's eyes, a forest viridescent with flecks of gold, eyelids blinking with long lashes that Louis had never taken much notice to.

"Hi," Harry breathed out, words tumbling from his pink, puffy lips that were chapped from the brisk weather.

"Hi," Louis squeaked back, flushing red with embarrassment, "I'm sorry I was staring too long, you're just so beautiful and it's a lot to take in."

"Speak for yourself," Harry responded, "You do know that I'm not the only drop dead gorgeous person in this relationship right?" Harry said with snark, then squinting his eyes and pursing lips when he had just realized what he said, "Fuck, I didn't mean that. Unless you know, you _want_ to be in a relationship with me, or you don't have to be and we can just continue whatever-"

Louis leaned forward, pressing his thin lips onto Harry's, letting him mumble the last few words he was going to say into Louis' mouth. This kiss was short but sweet, only a small peck to the lips to get Harry to stop rambling.

"You talk too much, babe. Of _course_ I'd want a relationship with you," Louis beamed, his chest rising with anticipation and love for Harry.

The look on Harry's face made Louis' stomach do an Olympic back flip, his lips pulled into a smile that could probably cure every awful disease out there. Harry looked so happy that the dimple in his cheek was now a crater, and Louis thought that just that one feature was enough to make him swoon.

"So now I can officially call you my boyfriend?" Harry asked, enclosing the space between the two of them.

"I think that would be alright," Louis retorted, "Under one condition, we can't tell anyone. This is going to be our little secret, for now." Louis explained, biting his bottom lip and hoping that Ashton hadn't already mentioned anything to Harry about knowing.

Harry nodded, "I can agree with that. I doubt our parents would fancy the idea that they're not the only couple in the family."

"Doubt that they would fancy that idea all together," Louis frowned, leaning in to kiss Harry on the cheek and remembering what Ashton had told him last night. Louis whimpered, not wanting this to end soon _at all_ , but knowing that it would, he realized that there was no time that should be wasted.

"They'll have to live with it," Harry stated, his eyebrows knitting together and his face becoming serious, "I love you and that's all that matters to me, and even if our parents or siblings or whoever else thinks its a bad thing, its not, because I love you."

Even if it sounded like a line from a cheesy teen movie, Louis bit his lip to keep from grinning back at Harry, "Are you sure? You know how my mum is, and even if I told her that I love you, she'd be too selfish to put my needs first."

"You're going to be 19, Louis, you're already an adult. You don't have to do everything your mother says. I'm only 16, so if the end of us is going to be anyone's fault, it's going to be by mine," Harry said, choking up a bit on his words.

"I guess you're right," Louis concurs.

"I'm always right," Harry gloats, "We're going to be alright, I promise."

"Good, I hope you're right," Louis sighs, giving up and not really wanting to continue talking about the subject anymore. He gave Harry another peck on the cheek, whispering in his ear, "How about we save some time and shower together, yeah?"

Harry agreed wholeheartedly, his eyes twinkling as he quickly nodded.

\--

Sadly, the moment of bliss and solitude was broken an hour later when the six of them were crammed into the car. Louis, of course, sat with Harry in the very back, discussing their favorite joys that the holiday season graces upon them. In the middle, Drew and Ashton were sitting quietly, Drew played some game on his iPad whilst Ashton sat quietly with his hands in his lap, looking out the window dramatically. Jay and Des were holding hands over the gear shift, and Louis thought he might throw up.

"Toys at Christmas?" Drew interrupted, piping up in the seat in front of Louis.

"Sleigh bells?" Harry added.

"Snow?" Louis finished, a warm feeling spreading from his head to his toes. Even if Drew was causing a disturbance to his and Harry's game, he couldn't really stay mad at him because he was his impossibly adorable and dumb little brother.

Harry let out an unexpected, hearty laugh (one _so_ hearty that he actually held his chest with one hand), earning odd looks from both Drew and Louis. Once his laughter died down, no longer roaring through the capacity of the van, Harry explained, "I don't think you guys just realized that we made a reference to _Peter Pan_. Or at least, I did."

Louis' mouth formed an o-shape, rolling his eyes teasingly, "I got that, Harry, that's why I finished with 'snow'."

"Okay, good," Harry smiled, and Louis swore that he could see his inner child beaming at that moment, "I was going to have to disown you if you hadn't of realized it."

"I would have let you," Louis retorted, letting the laughter falter into another silence. If it weren't for them being in a car with their families, Louis and Harry probably would have been talking each others ears off right now, but they couldn't. Well, they could, but it was so fucking _quiet_ in the car and Ashton was right in front of them. Admittedly, Louis was _still_ paranoid about him.

Eventually they arrived at a surprisingly large mall in town, only about three quarters of an hour from the cabin homes. It was like most malls usually are, a large, brick building with flashy signs and ornamental shrubs and such. The parking lot was jam packed with vehicles, people buzzing about with loaded shopping carts in hopes of finishing everything on their families Christmas wishlists. The warmth of the holiday season pooled in Louis' stomach, bringing a genuine smile to his face.

The sentiment of childhood was flowing through Louis' bloodstream just by the sight of the vibrant Christmas decorations that overwhelmed the inside of the mall. A tree that was barely brushing against the ceiling was standing tall in the center of the mall, vivid ornaments and other trinkets clustering up the green branches. Louis was breathless as he took the sight in, his eyes following the different baubles to the shining star sitting proud at the top of the tree.

"How about I get a picture of you boys in front of the tree?" Jay asked excitedly, and all of the children groaned right on cue, but obliged.

Sulking, the four boys took place in front of the tree, Jay insisting that the boys stand from oldest to youngest (Louis and Ashton in the back, Harry and Drew crouching in front of them). Of course, this made Louis so absolutely uncomfortable that he couldn't _stand_ it, but then he calmed himself down mentally, reminding himself that it was only one picture and it would take 30 seconds at the most.

30 seconds or not, it was still extremely unpleasant, Louis had to suffer through it. He forced a smile, his arms clutched tightly at his waist to refrain from accidentally bumping elbows with Ashton, and held his breath in his chest until he could barely breathe. Thankfully, Jay was quick at taking the picture, Louis letting his chest fall as soon as the camera flashed.

Louis rushed away from the other boys as quickly as possible, clearing the air of the awkward that was crammed tightly between him and Ashton. The thought that maybe Ashton wasn't having any negative feelings toward this and Louis was just making it all up flashed through his mind, and he believed it for a second, but then he saw the way that Ashton glared when he hustled next to Harry after the picture was taken. 

He wasn't making it up.

"Okay kids, here's the plan," Jay said, waiting until she had everyone's attention until she spoke again, "Let's all take turns on who we shop with. I'll shop with Des for the most part since we've already gotten each other's gifts and we need to get yours, but you boys will all shop together," Jay explained, getting wide eyed stares from the boys in front of her, "Louis you go with Ashton, Harry go with Drew, and when you're done, switch."

The thought of hating his own mother never passed Louis' mind, but at this exact moment, he was basically planning her murder.

"Are you sure? Shouldn't I stick with Harry," Louis closed into his mother, "Or _Drew_ at least?"

"Come on, Louis, I'm not that bad," Ashton said, his voice leaking with venom, "Plus, it's not temporary, you won't have to suffer with me for _that_ long."

Louis squeezed his eyes tightly for a second, pursing his lips and shooting Harry a look of plead. 

"Okay, fine, let's get this over with."

\--

20 minutes in and Louis is searching rapidly to find something to kill himself with.

Him and Ashton had been to a couple stores, walking in silence most of the time and it was so grossly problematic that Louis was actually considering to stab himself to death with the _Starbucks_ straw from some pre-teen's hot chocolate.

There was no small talk to ease the tension (which would be even worse if there was, because they had nothing in common except for their parents dating and well, Harry, but he was basically the reason that things were so awkward, so Louis decided that it was best not to bring him up) and Ashton was practically ignoring Louis, so at least the feeling was mutual.

The only thing Louis had bought so far was a video game that Ashton had (barely) helped him pick out, and that was all he presumes that he was going to buy this trip. 

Thankfully, Louis' phone rang and broke the god awful silence. Louis picked up without even checking to see who was calling, stopping in the middle of the mall and watching Ashton stop in the corner of his eye.

"Hey Lou, how about I come with you for like, the rest of the trip, and then Harry can go with Ashton and we'll just tell mom we switched."

"Drew! That's not what I told you to tell him!" Harry yelled in the background, fussing with the phone and taking it for himself, "Look, ask Ashton if it would be alright for me, you, and Drew to go together because we _both_ want to go with you, apparently," Harry said, and Louis could almost see him rolling his eyes.

"Uh," Louis stuttered, "You can ask him here hold on," Louis said awkwardly, shoving the phone to Ashton.

Ashton took it with warning, mumbling to whomever he was speaking to for about a minute before giving the phone back to Louis.

"They're meeting us at the fountain, we should probably get going."

"Okay."

Louis and Ashton arrived at the giant water fountain a couple minutes later, meeting up with Harry and Drew. Ashton put on a strong face, telling them that it would probably be better for all of them if he went by himself anyway. The others took it with gratefulness, walking away from the fountain and getting back into the jest of shopping.

Being with Harry and Drew restored Louis' comfort zone, making the drastic feelings of attempting suicide with a straw disappear. It was easier to shop with the both of them also, because Drew was darting across the store and looking at _every single thing_ he could get his grubby little hands on, and that left Harry and Louis alone to observe together.

At the moment, the trio were inside of a record store (which Louis didn't even think existed anymore, but he had been proved wrong) and thumbing through different genres and artists and whatever was sitting in front of them. Drew was by the t shirts, looking for something in particular for Louis, whilst Harry and Louis were off by themselves (as expected) to browse. 

"What kind of music do _you_ like?" Louis asked, picking up some boyband's album and giggling at the 90's-esque cover.

"I can't describe it," Harry started, biting his bottom lip and walking over to another section, "Indie, I guess? I don't know, I like listening to artists that aren't really that well known, if that makes any sense."

Louis nodded, following him over to a section that he probably wouldn't have bothered going to if it wasn't for Harry, "I can see where you're coming from."

"Yeah, like if I mentioned some of them you might recognize the names, because their music is played on the radio but its not as popular, you know?" Harry explained, picking up an album with 'The 1975' glowing on a sign, "Ever heard of them?"

Louis examined the cover, flipping the album over to the back and scanning the songs, "Vaguely, I don't know any of their music though."

"It's great," Harry gushed, "I mean, I think it's great, but I think you'd like it, maybe. What type of music do you listen to? I would probably need to know that before making any assumptions," Harry said, his sentences jamming together nervously.

"Stuff like The Fray and Coldplay, mostly," Louis said lamely, handing the album back over to Harry and eyeing it from the corner of his eye.

"Oh, I like them, I've heard a couple songs of theirs," Harry replied, putting the album back into its proper stand, "How about we go find Drew? It looks like his arms about to fall off."

Louis followed Harry's eyes over to his stupid brother, who had at least ten t shirts in his arm and he was attempting to reach something else. Louis rolled his eyes, looking over to Harry and cackling with him.

"I'll go take care of him, wait for me somewhere in here," Harry said, running his hand along Louis' forearm before walking off toward Drew.

Louis may or may not have watched him as he walked away, and as he tended to the 13 year old. Louis thought Harry was just the fucking cutest with Drew, and honestly, he was a better brother than Louis had ever been himself.

Whilst Harry was distracted, Louis called over an attendant who was wandering the aisles with a bored expression, and asked her advice on which albums to get Harry for Christmas. She picked out a few that Louis had never heard of prior to that moment, but he took her word for it and bought them just in time for Harry and Drew to make their way to the counter.

"Louis don't look!" Drew shouted, turning his body away from Louis so he wouldn't see what he was holding.

"Okay! Okay! I won't look," Louis promised, laughing and turning to Harry, "I'm assuming those are my Christmas presents?" 

"You'd be correct," Harry stated, "Looks like you found something for yourself?" Harry asked, pointing to the small bag that Louis was holding at his side.

"Oh, yes, but you can't see. It's a surprise."

"Surprises excite me, I can't wait to see," Harry smiled, turning his head to Drew, who was prodding his side, "Ready to go, kiddo?"

"Yeah, where are we going to next?" Drew asked, fidgeting with the plastic bag.

"Wherever you want."

"Cool!" Drew yelled, fist bumping the air and running out of the store.

Louis sighed, following after him, "Hold up, speed racer. We don't want to lose you here, we're in a foreign place, and I don't want some random family to find adopt you as their new kid, alright?"

"They'd bring him back," Harry mumbled under his breath, and Louis almost choked on his spit.

"I heard that," Drew glared at the both of them, "Just for that, we're going into Victoria's Secret so you can both get really weird stares from all the women in there and I can just say I'm looking for my mummy."

"We are not-" Louis started.

"You said we could go wherever I want, verbatim," Drew smarted back, a shit eating grin forming on his stupid face.

"Fuck, fine," Louis agreed, shooting Harry a look of apology.

Victoria's Secret was probably the last place that Louis and Harry wanted to be _ever_ , but Drew insisted that Louis had promised him that they could go wherever he wanted, and of course, he first option was a store made for the intention of selling intimates and lingerie for women.

Drew was a 13 year old straight boy, so Louis probably should have expected this, but for some reason, he never thought he'd end up  _h_ _ere_.

"Don't get into any trouble," Louis warned, letting Drew separate himself from the older boys.

"When Jay told us we were going to the mall for family Christmas shopping, I doubt we'd be doing our _family Christmas shopping_ in a woman's underwear store," Harry laughed, obviously uncomfortable and shuffling closer to Louis.

"Oh well, might as well make the most of it," Louis said, walking over to the display of underwear. He held up a frilly pink thong, letting Harry look at it as he asked with a snicker, "How would my bum look in these?" 

Harry reddened at the thought of Louis in nothing but the stupid panties he was holding up, and he could feel sweat forming around his brow. Harry tightened in his jeans, watching Louis' face grow with satisfaction as he realized he hit a breaking point for Harry.

Louis put the underwear down, closing the space between him and Harry and asking, "You'd like that, wouldn't you? To fuck me in those lace panties?"

Harry gulped, shying away from Louis so he wouldn't notice the tent growing in his pants, "I I think we should probably go," Harry changed the subject, his cheeks still flushed pink, "Let's go find Drew and get out of here, I can literally feel people thinking I'm some sort of sick pervert."

"Please, I'm pretty sure the people here can literally smell the gay on us," Harry laughed, shrugging his shoulders.

"I suppose you're right, but Drew?"

"If they think anyone's the pervert here, it's the 13 year old sniffing the tried on underwear. People probably think we're just two asshats coming in to make fun of the place, or our mum dragged us in," Louis explained, bumping elbows with Harry, "Let's go flag him down so we can get the hell out of here."

The two of them found Drew just in time, the pest was attempting to sneak inside of the dressing rooms. Louis practically pulled him out of the store by his ear, earning a couple frightened stares from bystanders, but Louis just ignored them until they went away. 

"Why did you drag me out of there like that?" Drew asked, rubbing his ear.

"You were trying to sneak into the dressing rooms, you deviant!" Harry whisper yelled, his eyes going wide with disgust.

"Oh, please, you were 13 once too. Don't tell me that you never tried to see some free boobies." 

Louis had to cover his face from laughing because his brother was so fucking _oblivious_ and he just found that absolutely hilarious.

Harry sighed in response, muttering a 'let's go' to Drew and beginning to walk in the opposite direction. Drew and Louis followed, wandering behind him passed the stores that they had no intentions of _ever_ stepping foot into.

The rest of the trip lulled by, the three boys occasionally popping into different stores and browsing, but never buying anything else. Jay eventually called Louis, asking him to notify everyone else of her and Des' location so they could all meet up and head back to the cabins. Louis had Harry call Ashton to tell him the news, since he didn't dare do it himself.

So now they were all crammed back into the car, Louis' back aching from walking the lengths of the mall and his arms tired and everything about him was just weary. Without warning, Louis laid his head into the crook of Harry's neck, giving him a look of okay through his eyelashes. Harry obliged, leaning his own head of curls against Louis' soft fringe. They laid like this for the rest of the way home (47 minutes, not that Louis was counting) without disruptions. When the car stopped, Louis' eyes flew open, and he let out an audible groan because he was so comfortable intertwined with Harry like this. 

"Wake up, Lou," Harry said, prodding Louis in the side.

"Carry me in," Louis complained, opening his eyes for a second before whining and digging his face back into Harry's shoulder.

"I would if I could."

"Fine," Louis gave up, lifting his head up and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Louis looked at Harry when he sat up, and he thought he was absolutely adorable with his ruffled hair and the red mark on his cheek from laying on Louis.

"Where is everyone else?" Louis asked.

"Well, Sleeping Beauty, the carried everything in, and I offered to help, but you were still sleeping on me, so I just stayed put. Jay just came out and asked me to wake you up for dinner."

"Oh, was it really that long?"

"You were out like a light," Harry explained, unbuckling his seat belt, "Let's go before Jay has an aneurysm."

Louis nodded, following Harry out of the car and into the house.

\--

After a not-so-eventful dinner, Louis asked Jay if she could wrap his presents to everyone else for him, giving her instructions on what goes to who and what to put on them. She agreed gleefully, observing the thoughtful gifts that her son had gotten for his brothers.

Well, most of them anyway.

"Where's Ashton's gift?" Jay asked, holding the albums in her hand.

Louis shrugged, "We don't get on very well, and I barely know anything about him. I tried to find something I thought he would like, but nothing came to mind."

Jay clicked her tongue, her perfectly manicured eyebrows furrowing together, "You just can't _not_ get him a present!"

"Sorry."

With a look of warning, Jay reached backward and revealed a new set of drumsticks out of a bag, "Lucky for you,  I picked him up two gifts. I'll just make one of them from you, but Louis, you have to treat everyone fairly, got it?"

"Yes, mum, can I just go to bed? It's been a long day."

"Of course, goodnight, sweetie."

"Night mum," Louis waved, showing himself the way out of Jay and Des' cabin and back to his own.

The snow was coming down heavier now, and Louis found himself pulling the sleeves of his jacket over his hands. His teeth chattered and his body shook as he reached for the door handle, twisting it open with one swift movement and stumbling back into the cabin that he had been calling home for the last week.

It wasn't long until Louis was stripping off his clothes and tucking himself into the sheets next to Harry. Harry gave him a peck on the cheek when Louis _finally_ retired to his bed for the night.

"What was that for?"

"Just because I love you," Harry replied cutely, a coy smile on his lips to compliment the twinkle in his eyes, "Goodnight."

"Night, Harry."

"Oh, and Louis?" Harry asked just as Louis turned out the light.

"Yeah?"

"Happy almost birthday."

Harry couldn't see, but Louis was grinning to himself because Harry was an idiot, but he was _his_ idiot.


	7. seven

Louis wakes up to singing, and he really wishes this wasn't happening so _early_ in the fucking morning.

"...Happy birthday dear Louis, happy birthday to youuuuuu!" His family sang out, and Drew was doing that stupid 'cha cha cha' in the background. 

Louis decides that he hates his family.

All five faces stared down at him in his bed, eerily happy smiles etched across their lips. His mother was holding a cake with 18 candles in a circle, leaving the lone 19th jammed in the middle. Louis rolls his eyes, then blows out the candles to be greeted by cheers and celebration that he wished wasn't happening the second he woke up.

Drew bounced excitedly on his heels, clapping his hands together and asking, "Can we have cake for breakfast?"

"Let's let Louis make that decision, since it is _his_ birthday," Des says, turning all the attention back to the somber and sleepy Louis.

"Sure, why not," Louis replied, his voice gravelly with sleep, "You already woke me up at the ass crack of dawn, might as well get up and eat so much cake I'll be borderline diabetic."

"That's the spirit!" Harry fist pumps the air, and everyone laughs, even Louis.

"Okay, okay, give the birthday boy some time and space so he can ready. Surely you don't want me to celebrate the great 19 looking like this," Louis comments, pointing to his boxers and band t shirt.

His family gave him the time he needed, all shuffling to the door as Louis just sat in his bed, trying not to get too excited about the day ahead of him. The fact that his birthday and Christmas Eve made the holidays twice as exciting, since every special occasion he loved had been jam packed all into one week. The only problem he had with his birthday landing on Christmas Eve was the fact that he got less presents, which upset him more as a kid, not so much now, but it was still a downer because it was like one _less_ celebration.

Then he remembered that he was 19, and now he was only one year away from being an actual adult instead of just a legal one. Louis pushed the thought from his brain, not wanting to worry himself because it was his birthday and it was Christmas Eve and he was the center of the attention and he was Harry's boyfriend and everything was just great.

Excitement pumped through Louis' veins as he jumped out of bed, doing a small happy dance to relieve some of the adrenaline that was pulsating from his body. He played this off coolly, glad that no one else was around to witness his tiny glimmer of anticipation for the day to come.

Louis picked out an outfit that he had been waiting to wear, a pair of black skinny jeans and a blue plaid button down that his mother forced him to buy when they were shopping once. He made this choice because he was so much more _mature_ now (lie) and he had to look the part if he wanted other people to believe it.

Or maybe he just wanted to get Harry all hot and bothered at the dining table, either one worked.

After a quick shower and at least a half hour used to fix his hair, Louis was dressed and ready to go downstairs to greet his public.

Louis walked down the stairs, waving dramatically at his family and blowing them kisses like a Hollywood starlet, and he silently wondered to himself how they were so oblivious to his sexuality.

Jay squealed, reaching for her camera and running toward Louis like a wild hyena, "Oh, sweetie! You look gorgeous!" She exclaimed, hugging him tightly and planting a lipstick kiss on his cheek, earning a groan from Louis as he tried to push her off.

"Mum, I'm 19 now, enough with the PDA," Louis joked, wiping his cheek.

"No matter how old you get-"

"I'm still your baby, got it mum," Louis winked.

Jay smiled greatly, wanting to hug her son again, but knowing he'd get embarrassed again if she did.

"So how about some pictures?" Jay asked the question that everyone was waiting to hear.

Everyone waited impatiently to get a picture with Louis, which was really awesome to him because it made him feel like he was famous. Taking pictures was actually fun for once, Louis differentiating between poses with Drew and Des (who was actually turning out to be pretty cool for a step dad). The pictures with Ashton were awkward, just a simple side by side smile and then they were done. Harry was next, his cheeks flushed the same color they usually were when he was with Louis. Of course, Louis acted flirtatiously toward Harry, squeezing his barely-there butt and kissing him on the cheek in one, glad he could get away with it because it was his birthday. Jay found this absolutely adorable, snapping so many pictures that Louis thought he was blind.

But he wasn't blind enough to see Ashton standing off to the side with a scowl on his face, staying close to his father.

Louis didn't really care because it was _his_ birthday and _his_ time to shine.

Pictures took up a sizable amount of time, Louis more awake and definitely ready to cut into his cake. After taking at least 40 photographs with his mum, Louis announced that it was _finally_ time to eat, and he swore that he could hear tiny cheering coming from the inside of Drew's pre-teen brain.

The family sat like they always did, Jay with Des, Ashton with Drew, and Harry with Louis, leaving two empty chairs. They all insisted on singing happy birthday once again, this time without the candles, but Louis imitated like he was blowing out the candles anyway, pinching Harry's thigh to capture his attention as he did so.

Jay cut the dessert, revealing vanilla cake on the inside of the icing of the same sort. Louis acted like he was turning three, clapping his hands excitedly and gleefully taking the first slice of the store bought cake.

They were all done eating within the time spam of about 10 minutes, half of the cake still present in the center of the table.

"Well, now we have one holiday out of the way," Jay said, "Now we have the next! Who wants to help me prepare Christmas dinner?"

"Oh!" Harry yelled, standing up from the table, "I'll help!"

"Ah yes," Des starts, "Harry loves to cook, he's probably the only person in the family besides his mother who actually enjoys cooking." 

"Great!" Jay exclaims, "Anyone else?" She asked, eyeing Louis and Drew.

Drew let out a loud laugh, getting up from his seat and walking right out of the dining room, leaving just Louis and Ashton.

"You know, I should really hang with Drew," Ashton said, pushing his chair back and standing up, "I'll leave this task to you, Lou, consider it a birthday present from yours truly," Ashton pats Louis on the back as he exits the room.

Louis hates Ashton.

"Alright, so I guess it's just us three," Jay says, biting her lip, "Des? Do you want to help?"

"I'm sure you three will be fine," Des responds, following Ashton out.

"Okay," Jay huffs out, looking to Louis and Harry, who were still seated at the table, "We better get working, and by we, I mean you two, because I can't cook to save my life."

"Neither can I!" Louis exclaims.

"Have Harry teach you, then. I'll be doing the dishes and preparing the plates and whatnot," Louis stares her down, "Look, unless you want food poisoning, I'm leaving the cooking to you and Harry."

Before Louis could protest, Jay was gathering up the plates and stacking them against her stomach, walking into the kitchen. Harry gave Louis a look of defeat, shrugging his shoulders lazily, "I'm sure we'll be fine. I can do most of the cooking, I'll just need you to fetch me ingredients and look pretty."

"That's what I usually do," Louis commented, moving his fringe from his eyes whilst he gave Harry his sweetest smile.

Harry grinned back at him, making Louis' heart skip because he was just so adorably innocent.

"Better get on with it then, we don't want to keep our public starving," Harry complies, "And plus if we don't, I'm sure Jay will murder us both."

"I wouldn't doubt it, she already seems pretty stressed about having _us_ cook," Louis giggled, "Which is entirely her fault if we fuck up, because she knows how awful I am at this."

"Okay, my damsel in distress, I'll save the kingdom from your awful skills, and like I said, you can just stand there and look pretty like most princesses do," Harry said, winking, and Louis almost swooned because what the _fuck_ was that.

With that, Louis and Harry strolled into the kitchen to avoid Jay's wrath, Harry immediately getting instructions from Jay as Louis sat on the counter top, resting his chin in his hand and not so discreetly staring at Harry's bum in his super tight jeans. He watched the way Harry's lips moved when he spoke, and how they curled back into a smile when Jay joked about her own cooking, and how sweet Harry was with Louis' mother. Louis' heart fluttered at the sight of Harry and Jay getting along so well because they were easily two out of three of the most important people in his life, Drew being the third.

If there was one thing that Louis had to choose that he loved the most about Harry, it would be the fact that he always had patience and time for everyone before he ever thought about himself. Louis always found this an interesting factor in people because he was usually so selfish, but it was absolutely amazing to him how Harry always had the audacity to put the people he loved first. 

He never understood how people could be willing to sacrifice themselves so much that if it came down to a life or death situation that they would be able to think of the other person's priorities in front of their own. Louis respected Harry greatly for that, wishing that he had the same drive to do so.

"Louis, c'mere, I need your help!" Harry sing songed from the pantry, snapping Louis from his thoughts.

Sliding off the counter, Louis padded over to Harry and waited for further instruction.

"I need you to carry some stuff, and my skilled arms need rest for cooking," Harry teased, taking a bag of flour from the inside of the pantry and handing it off to Louis.

This is what Louis did for the first half of the cooking process, obtaining and giving Harry the next available ingredient for the recipe. It wasn't that hard, just a little mind boggling because there were so many constituents involved in the cooking process, and they were only making the first dish.

Eventually Harry was obligated to have more help than just the simple 'hand-me-things-and-be-my-little-trophy-otherwise' and Louis found himself lazily stirring brownie batter in a bowl. Louis didn't expect that rotating his arm several times around a bowl would be so difficult, but it _was_ , and he just wanted to shove the job off onto Harry.

"Harry," Louis whined, his voice coming out breathy and sending chills down Harry's spine, "This is _really_ hard."

Jay had left a couple minutes earlier, finishing off the dishes and putting them all in their appropriate spots. Louis was content with this, because now he had Harry all to himself, and that's just the way Louis liked it.

"You're just stirring, you wimp," Harry laughs, shaking his head at Louis, "Are you just using this as an excuse to get me to stand behind you and help?"

Louis smirked, "Maybe."

"Fine, I'll help you stir _brownie batter_ , but only because I get to press myself against your fantastic ass," Harry concurs, putting down the kitchen utensil he was holding and walking over to Louis. 

Harry stood behind Louis, wrapping his arms around him and placing his right hand over Louis'. He moved his hand in slow, circular motions, whilst resting his neck on Louis' shoulder and pushing his crotch against Louis' bum. 

"Jesus Christ, you weren't kidding," Harry says with amazement, "You got batter _everywhere_. Always making a mess, aren't you?"

Louis flashed red, his skin flaring up because  _what the fuck_ and they were both in a position that practically was made for something _else_ and even though he had gotten them both into this, he really didn't want to be doing this in A kitchen that was not his own.

"Uh," Louis started, easing himself away from Harry as much as he could in the tight space, "I think I got it now, thanks."

Harry frowned, backing away from Louis, "Alright, as long as you got it now."

"Yeah," Louis says awkwardly, watching Harry go back to making whatever it was that he was making, sporting a pretty obvious hard on under his slacks.

The rest of the time they spent together cooking was quiet, Louis trying to focus on the instructions a Harry was giving him (which he fucked up, as usual, and his knight in shining armor Harry had to save him). It was all running smoothly until Harry ran by, sprinkling an entire handful of flour over Louis' hair and onto the bridge of his nose.

Louis didn't respond at first, standing there with his mouth agape. He decided he had to act quick if he wanted to get back at Harry, searching for something that he could get his sweet revenge with. Louis settled on digging out a handful of mashed potatoes from the bowl in front of him, whipping it at the back of Harry's curls. 

Watching with a smirk, Louis saw Harry froze, and turn around in a dramatic matter.

"It's on, Tomlinson," Harry exclaimed, picking up the nearest object (which happened to be an apple, sadly) and pelting it at Louis' abdomen. 

Harry's aim was great, hitting Louis right in the side, "Ow!" Louis howled, his voice theatrical as he did so, "That was low, you're going to pay for that one!" Louis yelled, picking up the wooden spoon that was laying on the counter. 

"Bend over," Louis ordered, Harry immediately, pushing himself up against the counter and sticking his bum out. 

To his surprise, this actually worked even though Louis was only messing around when he told him to bend over, but now he actually felt obligated to spank Harry with a wooden spoon. So Louis did all there was to _do_ , and brought the spoon down with a crack on Harry's arse.

Harry whined beneath Louis, his butt still in the air and Louis still standing there, red in the face. Louis wondered what the hell he just got himself into, and what he was supposed to do next, because he had never been in the situation of spanking his boyfriend over a counter with a wooden spoon.

"So, uh, that's what you get for, uh, hitting me with that apple," Louis said awkwardly, motionless behind Harry.

"I don't think that was enough," Harry responds, putting his head down against the marble counter top again, "And maybe you should ditch the spoon, I doubt that this is sanitary." 

Louis concurs, putting down the spoon and opting for his hand instead. He smacks Harry's other cheek, another mewl escaping his lips as he wriggled his upper body on the counter top. Louis watched him make these movements, gulping at the effect that this was having on Harry. Without thinking, he did it again, and again, and again, switching from left to right until his hand was stinging red.

"I think you've gotten your punishment," Louis uttered, stepping away from Harry.

"Maybe I'll start being bad more often," Harry snickered, attempting to stand upright, but the burn on his bum and the tent in his pants prevented him from doing so without looking absolutely ridiculous.

Louis' cheeks colored a rosy red, and he never thought that he'd see the day that _Harry_ was the one initiating sexual innuendo instead of himself. Nonetheless, it was still hot, and Louis had to admit, the whole affair had really turned him on, even more than the subtle hand job under the dinner table or when he blew Harry up in his room or even when they made out on the kitchen counter, like, 30 times that one night. But this was different, Louis thought, deciding that he just really wanted to fuck Harry, and it was his birthday, so why not?

This notion was interrupted by the kitchen door being swung open, and Jay walking in, Louis immediately picking up the spoon and hustling over to the bowl over mashed potatoes.  

"What the hell happened to the kitchen?" Jay asked, her voice shrill (but when wasn't it, honestly) as she took in the sights of the once spotless kitchen in front of her.

"There was a little incident," Harry replies, opening the oven and checking on the turkey inside.

" _Little_?" Jay inquired, "You boys better clean this up," She warned, exiting the room.

Tension was suffocating the air in the kitchen, and Louis couldn't stand it any longer, so he just laughed. He laughed mostly because his mother was oblivious to the fact that he had just spanked Harry several times over the counter, and she was blind to Harry's boner, and she was unaware that her son was dating the son of the man that she was possibly going to marry.

Harry thought he was crazy.

"Should I even bother asking?" Harry queries. 

Louis shook his head, "Oh, it's nothing, I'm just thinking about how unbelievable this whole thing is."

"Okay," Harry answers, his eyebrows furrowing as he turned his attention back to cooking, "What exactly are you talking about?"

"The fact that, you know, I'm dating and almost sleeping with my potential step brother, and no one has a clue about any of it. Just mind blowing to me," Louis states, but then he remembered that Ashton knew, but he didn't have to tell Harry that. 

"Kinda weird isn't it, how blind people can be to what they're not looking for. I mean, no one would ever _think_ that we'd be totally into each other even though we know our parents are like, going at it, right?" Harry coincides, laughing to himself.

"Doubt it," Louis agrees, "Just shows how much they actually pay attention to us, right?"

"It sucks, I could have probably fucked you on the couch the other night while we were watching that movie and no one would have noticed."

"Exactly, they didn't even blink an eye at the fact that I was basically moaning at the dinner table because you were getting me off, it's ridiculous," Harry remarked, shaking his head, "Ever since my mother died, my dad has been so unconscious toward everything me and Ashton do. Well, basically just me, because Ashton is his priority. Ashton is smart, Ashton reads, Ashton has good grades, but Harry, oh Harry, he's just disconnected from the world. He's just weird, he has glasses, and he's the younger child, but let me tell you about Ashton!" Harry rants, his throat closing up as he finishes.

Louis' heart drops as he watches Harry break in front of him, especially since it was so unexpected.

"Hey, hey," Louis said wrapping his arm around Harry's never ending torso to console him, "It's alright, if Des can't see that, then screw him, because there are so many people that can."

Harry wipes the tears that were falling down his cheeks, "Not really, I don't have any friends. Just you, and we wouldn't even be together right now if it weren't for our parents." 

"That's why I believe things happen for a reason, we're meant to be here right now and I feel like I was meant to see the beauty in you that maybe no one else could, even though you stick out like a sore thumb to me, in a good way, of course," Louis smiles, running a hand through Harry's curls, "It's going to be okay, we're going to be okay, remember?"

"You're right," Harry nods, sniffling, "I'm sorry for my outburst."

"Don't be, sometimes we all need to get some things out, and I'm glad you trust me enough to tell me all that."

"Thanks, Lou, I love you," Harry says, encasing Louis into a hug.

"I love you, too," Louis responds, grinning widely as he holds Harry tight, because he wasn't sure if he'd be able to do this for much longer.

\--

"That was fantastic, boys! I didn't know you had it in you!" Des exclaims, clapping his hands together and sharing glances with Louis and Harry, who both looked weary, "Seriously, I haven't had a meal like that since...since-" Des frowned, changing his train of thoughts, "Well, a very long time."

Harry cleared his throat, side eyeing Louis before saying, "Thanks, it means a lot."

Des just smiled in response, looking to Jay and asking, "Should we give Louis his presents now?"

"Oh, I'm sure that can wait until tomorrow, can't it, Louis?" Jay gave Louis a look of  warning, wanting Louis to agree with her, but fuck that, he wanted his presents.

"No, actually it can't," Louis forces the most shit-eating grin onto his face and cocks his head to the right, "It's _my_ birthday, and I would like to open _my_ birthday presents on _my_ birthday. Is that clear?"

No one says a word, Jay struck with by her son's words, Drew letting out a soft 'ooh kill 'em!' and Harry sitting there, shocked.

"Okay, then," Jay responds, getting up from her seat, "I'll go over to the other cabin and I'll get them, I guess. Des, would you like to come with me?" Jay asks, her voice shaky and Louis swore she was about to crack. Oh well.

Des nods, quickly following her out.

"Jesus Christ," Harry breathes out, "I've never be a part of anything more awkward in my life."

Louis just shrugs, "Like I said, it's my birthday."

\--

An hour later, Louis is shoving all of his birthday loot into his new Vans backpack that's decked out with different covers from some of his favorite Marvel Comics. Inside the backpack were a couple band t shirts from Drew, money from Des and Ashton, a pair of Converse from his mum, and a book and a CD from Harry. Needless to say, Louis appreciated Harry's gift the most.

Everyone else had retired to their rooms for the night, but Louis had said that he was going to stay up for a while longer. It was just him now, even Harry was upstairs in their bedroom, alone on the carpet in front of the fireplace. He was milling over the events of the day, of life even, and mostly thinking about Harry, always about Harry. Louis smiled to himself, sure that he still had flour in his hair and a bruise of his side, but it really didn't matter to him.

Louis wondered when he became such a softy, falling faster than a 12 year old middle school girl the first time she sees a pretty boy. He didn't mind it all that much, because he loved the feeling of being in love and also the fact that he had attained Harry's adoration, but everything had happened so fast. Louis was never the type to fall in love easily, but with Harry, it struck Louis as one of the most uncomplicated things he had ever experienced, and he was currently free falling into his own fondness.

This would usually scare the hell out of Louis, but right now, he was content with himself, and content with Harry, and just content overall. Maybe falling in love was something that everyone feared at first, but then after they realized how great it could be, it was the equivalent to having a safety net.

Right on cue, Louis heard someone walking down the stairs. He turned around to see Harry in his pajamas, wrapped in a blanket and his eyes twinkling in the illumination of the firelight. 

"You didn't come to bed yet, I got worried," Harry frowned, sitting on the carpet next to Louis.

Louis shrugged, resting his head on Harry's shoulder, "I've just been down here thinking about stuff, you know, the usual midlife crisis."

Harry guffawed, spreading the blanket around Louis' and resting his head on top of his, "Hopefully your midlife crisis doesn't involve you leaving me for another man."

"Never," Louis laughed, "I was thinking about you though, us, I guess."

"Oh yeah?" Harry asked, settling more into Louis, "What were you thinking about?"

Louis inhaled deeply, "About how much I love you, and how I'm not that scared as I thought to be in love with you."

Smiling at this, Harry snaked his arm around Louis' back and whispered into his ear, "Good, because I'm not even the slightest bit afraid to be in love with you."

Chills ran down Louis' spine because this, right here, was probably the best feeling in the world, knowing he was recklessly in love with someone who shared a mutual connection. He wouldn't trade this for the world, afraid or not.


End file.
